Let Me Hear
by Miss Kansas
Summary: After an unexpected encounter with a pair of troublesome sisters, Weiss and Blake learn there's more to life than loyalty to fate. Vampire AU.
1. Family of Purebloods

**Here it is! My newest fic! God… I spent literally all summer finishing this for you. The whole story. You can see how many chapters it is on my profile.**

 **Before we get started, I'd like to point out a few important things:**

 **This fic is somewhat based off the song: Let Me Hear (AKA the Parasitic Beasts opening) hell, that's the same title as the fic itself.**

 **It is also kind of based off the Owari no Seraph opening: X.U.**

 **IMPORTANT: This fic is** **NOT** **a crossover in any way shape or form. It is** **NOT** **based off the** **entirety** **of the songs** **OR** **anime.**

 **This is a completely** **original** **fic that follows** **some** **aspects of the songs above. (Links to the songs are at the end of the chapter).**

 **Buckle up, this is one hell of a ride!**

* * *

A breeze whipped through their hair in the stand off.

A tumbleweed drifted across the forest floor.

Their eyes narrowed in anticipation, both people waiting for the other to make the first move.

The brunette smirked when she noticed her sister's flowing golden hair got caught in her eyes, which effectively distracted her.

She used that split second to dart in for a front attack as she wielded Crescent Rose for a strike.

The blonde however, had fast reflexes and used Ember Celica to temporarily stun her sister as she clumsily stumbled backward.

"Is that all you got, Rubes?" Yang blew on her weapon like she was blowing out a smoking pistol. "You won't make it into Beacon with those moves!"

"I can and I will!" Ruby began firing sniper rounds in defiance.

Yang blasted the bullets to pieces with her own. "Ozpin needs to see you're worth his time!" she was trying to be harsh on her sister in an attempt to rile her up. "You're two years younger than all of us, what makes you think he'll let _you_ in?!"

The bullets suddenly stopped ringing out, and Yang lowered her fist, thinking she was too harsh on the girl.

Ruby lowered her head, her weapon dropped to her side. "You're right…"

"What?" Yang tilted her head. "No! I was joking! I just want you to be the best you can be for initiation," she wearily ran up to her sister, worry filled her lilac orbs "Was I too harsh?"

Ruby suddenly smirked, a complete 180 from when she looked like she was about to cry. "Nope!"

Before Yang could react, a cloud of smoke enshrouded her vision and her sister vanished in thin air.

"Dammit, Ruby! That's cheating!" Yang's aura flared in anger. "Using my sisterly instincts like that…"

Repeated rounds of bullets struck the blonde in different places and she kept grunting from the stings. Some straying bullets whizzed passed Yang's ear. Thankfully, her aura took the brunts of the blows that landed a direct hit.

 _How the hell is she hitting me all over my body?!_ Yang asked herself. _Is she that quick?_

The blonde whipped her head in all different directions to locate her sister, but the annoying cloud of smoke made sure that was impossible.

Suddenly, the dark outline of Ruby's scythe appeared and pounded her side. The action was too quick and caused Yang to fly out of the smoke cloud from the impact.

Yang landed on her back with a thump and a slight grunt. "Nice hit."

Ruby's giggles originated from the forest. Yang could pinpoint the direction, but she wasn't sure exactly where her sister was.

"Not funny!"

The comment made Ruby tried to stifle another giggle, but ultimately caused the bushes she was hiding in to rustle.

 _There!_ Yang yelled internally and ran to the spot.

She jumped behind the bushes and caught a frazzled Ruby off guard. Ruby tried to block Yang's punch, but that caused Crescent Rose to fly out of her grasp.

Ruby gasped when she now stood weaponless. She of all people knew how much Yang thrived in melee combat.

 _Sorry Rubes,_ Yang thought. _I can't go easy on you. I promised you I wouldn't._

The blonde went in for a final blow with her signature right hook.

When her sister didn't fly back, Yang was speechless to find that Ruby had successfully blocked her most powerful punch with her bare hands.

 _What?!_ Yang thought. _She can block my best move?!_

Ruby smirked. "I'm stronger than you think," her arm was starting to tremble from the sheer strength it took to withstand the assault.

To buy time, the brunette rolled out of the way and took her weapon back in hand.

Ruby used her typical defensive stance and then swung her scythe around. "Now where were we?"

Yang just stood there, speechless from what transpired.

 _I… I can't believe it. I'm so proud._

The blonde then saw a look of terror written on her sister's face. That was an expression she hadn't seen in awhile.

"What's wrong?"

Ruby didn't say a word and launched herself directly at her sister. Yang thought she was going in for a blow and tried to block, but instead, she noticed her sister soared over her.

That's when Yang pivoted around in time to see Ruby slice a beowolf in half, causing it to dissipate in seconds.

"Thanks for the save, Ruby."

Ruby whirled her scythe around before collapsing it in its more convenient compact form. "No problem. Think we're done for today?"

Yang faintly smiled when she recalled the powerful punch her sister blocked. "Yeah."

The two started walking back to their house and trekked through the dense forest.

"Ya know Rubes…" Yang started. "You'll do fine," she said with certainty. "You'll do more than fine at Beacon."

"I know," Ruby cheerily chirped. "I just hope we'll be on the same team!"

Yang grinned. "Don't get your hopes up…"

* * *

Both weapons were poised at each opponent.

The pure white room screamed silence besides footsteps and a pair of sideline eyes.

The older woman casted small nevermores that beamed a pure white light towards the younger girl with ease.

Azure eyes narrowed in irritation. She had seen that attack one hundred times before. Knowing exactly what to do, she dashed in the middle of the swarm and sliced through each and killed every single tiny bird before stopping in a simple twirl.

"Not good enough, Weiss," the older women stated.

"It's the most effective method, Winter!" Weiss practically yelled as she darted directly to her sister.

Both rapiers clashed as the two stared with sheer determination into each other's blue eyes.

"I meant," Winter easily flicked Myrtenaster out of her sister's grasp. "Summoning!"

The two sisters always competed against each other and Winter always came out on top. Weiss knew she was young and more inexperienced than the eldest and constantly berated herself for not showing as much promise as her eldest sister.

Weiss stumbled back a bit, taking in her sister's irritated form. "It's not that easy!"

"What if I told you it is?" Winter asked. "It comes naturally," she summoned a beowolf that emitted a soft snow-white glow to prove her point.

Weiss sauntered up to Winter and chose to ignore the specimen.

"It may to _you_ , but not to me," her voice was envious and stated like a fact.

Winter didn't like the defeat in her sister's voice. "Pick up your weapon."

Weiss stared up at her, sensing she wanted to try again. "Why?"

"Because you will summon sooner or later," Winter smirked. "And I will be there when it happens."

Weiss didn't understand why Winter placed so much faith in her or why she wanted to help her train, but she didn't want to waste her time and picked up the rapier once more.

"Think of your fallen enemies," Winter advised. "And summon them to fight for you, alongside you."

Weiss pointed her rapier on the marble floor, her eyes squeezed shut in concentration. Winter noticed the sheen layer of sweat on her sister's forehead and decided she had pushed her enough for today.

"That's enough," Winter saw just how worn out she was and put a hand on her shoulder. "We'll call it a day."

Weiss lowered her rapier slowly and released a withered sigh. "Fine."

"You did well," Winter reassured. "Your reflexes have improved."

Weiss gave her a slight smile. "Still can't summon."

"You can't rush these things," Winter informed. "You will be able to one day. For now you need to rest."

"I'll be sure to do that," Weiss replied evenly as she watched her sister take her leave.

Winter opened the double doors to exit and turned around one last time to remind her sister about an upcoming event. "Rest up for the vampire ball."

Winter's footsteps were the only thing that echoed in the white room as the door creaked shut.

When her sister was out of sight, Weiss sighed and looked to the side in the shadows. "That was awful."

A blob of darkness appeared from the corner with glimmering amber eyes. "You tried. That's what matters."

"Thanks Blake," Weiss said softly. "I feel like I'm wasting her time when we spar."

"You shouldn't feel that way," Blake suggested. "She just wants what's best for you. Summoning is in your blood, you'll be able to do it one day."

The heiress sighed heavily and her head lowered seemingly in defeat. "We'll see."

Weiss had been training for several years in order to summon, so right now there was a seed of doubt that it would ever happen.

Blake sensed something else was bothering her friend and was about to press for information, but Weiss decided to open up about it before Blake could ask.

"I get that we're the last of our kind, but I don't know if I can handle this much pressure…"

"Hey," Blake stared into her eyes. "Don't be like that. You need you to be strong, and if you need someone to lean on, I'm always here for you like a bodyguard should be."

"You're more than that," Weiss reminded. "I know you're here for me. You always have been, so you know being a pureblood is difficult. What I've had to deal with..."

Blake knew what she was talking about. Over the years she had watched her friend be used by others just because of what she was.

Her family suffering the consequences because of their race...

"Just remember you're not alone," Blake stated.

Weiss nodded, feeling a little better from her encouragement, but then Winter's words rang in the back of her mind.

" _Pureblood vampires are scarce. As a member of one of the last pureblood vampire families, you must take your duties seriously."_

* * *

 **These are the links to the songs above:**

 **Parasyte opening dubbed:** **www,youtube,com/watch?v=e5EGMW5PJ08**

 **By: NateWantsToBattle**

 **Another version of Parasyte dubbed:** **www,youtube,com/watch?v=pAAmkocOGwY**

 **By: LeeandLie (AmaLee)**

 **Owari no Seraph opening dubbed:** **www,youtube,com/watch?v=F81uA7XZCDA**

 **By: LeeandLie (AmaLee)**

 **Just replace all the commas with a period and there ya go! This fic follows some aspects of all three of these songs, so I'd highly recommend giving them a listen. Seriously. Go listen to them.**

 **BTW, AmaLee is a beast and a sweetheart, so you should check out more of her dubbed songs.**

 **Have questions, comments, concerns? Refer to the songs or PM/review. This story is carefully paced, but over time your questions will be answered.**

 **Next chapter: August 6th, then it'll be on a weekly schedule.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	2. Berserker

**Hello! I'd just like to remind you to LISTEN TO THE SONGS I TOLD YOU ABOUT IN THE FIRST CHAPTER!**

 **Kay? Kay. Now that that's outta the way... Enjoy!**

* * *

 _A couple of years ago…_

It was well into the class period when Ruby talked with her teacher. Before then, he said something along the lines of:

"I don't give a shit what you kids do. Just don't bother me."

Students cheered with glee. It was their last week at Signal Academy. It always sucked when teachers gave last minute work, so they were thankful. Everyone began chatting in the lively classroom and students abandoned their desks to talk with their friends.

"Uncle Qrow," Ruby called. "Do you have actual school work to give us this time?"

"Hah," Qrow scoffed, taking a swig of his water bottle that Yang was pretty sure was vodka. "School work, shmool work. Just be glad I don't give many tests," he leaned in the back of his chair with his hands behind his head, his feet propped up on his desk.

"Rubes," Yang swung an arm around her shoulder. "You worked hard to get two years ahead. Be proud and take a break!"

"I can say with certainty that you're the smartest person in this class Ruby," Qrow added. "I never thought I'd say this but… stop being so… studious."

"Uh, fine!" Ruby whined. "We do only have a week after all."

Every challenge Ruby had encountered so far was passed with flying colors. The tests, the pop quizzes, the aura training classes and other various things the elite academy could offer.

At their age, they weren't allowed to build their own weapons yet. However, with Qrow, Yang and Ruby were able to make their own before the rest of the students.

In secret, of course.

Naturally, Ruby modeled her weapon after her uncle's 's however, was a work in progress, and she wanted her weapon to speak volumes of her personality like Ruby's, but completely different in her own way. She wanted to go a different route, something Ruby and Qrow were happy to encourage.

A smug grin came from Qrow, prompting Yang to ask a question. "What're your plans for this summer?"

"I got a new job," the teacher smirked.

The sisters gasped at the revelation. As far as Ruby and Yang knew, Qrow's only job was teaching, with some sort of hunter's job on the side for extra money. The information made them intrigued to say the least.

Ruby couldn't help but press for information. "Doing what?"

"It's a hunter's job," Qrow informed.

Of course it was a hunter's job. Qrow was a professional in that field, but he was being far too vague for their liking.

"And?" Yang asked, hoping for more.

"The rest is classified," he said solemnly.

The sisters knew interrogating him further would be in vain, so they reluctantly didn't ask more questions. Even though he was… Qrow… he always took his hunter duties seriously. If he wanted something to stay a secret, he would do exactly that. The sisters had learned that over the years.

"Woooow!" Ruby gawked. "I can't wait to become a huntress and take on cool jobs!"

"I don't know about that," Qrow smirked, taking another swig from his bottle. "But it pays well."

Yang's expression turned to disappointment when she could smell the alcohol. "Are you leaving this job for the new one?"

"It depends, firecracker," Qrow said teasingly. "Now that my favorite students aren't going to be my students anymore, I see no reason to stay in this hellhole."

"It's not _that_ bad," Yang replied, only to be proven wrong when a chair was thrown through a window.

Qrow stood, clearly irritated when all the students froze in fear at the sight of the glass shattered all over the floor. "Who did it?" he asked, his tone threateningly low.

That was rare. Usually Qrow had such a laid back demeanor, so when he was irritated, he was _irritated._

A random voice piped up. "It was Cardin, sir!"

"You're going to pay for that!" Qrow yelped, menacingly advancing to the cowering boy and popped his knuckles. "I'm going to call your mother-"

"Unless you bang her first…" Yang mumbled.

"-and you'll be grounded for months!" Qrow quipped.

"It wasn't me!" Cardin squealed.

"Yeah right-"

"He was joking!" A female's voice cut in.

Qrow whipped around to see a giddy girl with bright orange hair.

"It was actually me!"

"Oh," Qrow trailed off as he calmly went back to his chair. "That's fine then."

Cardin's face contorted to anger. "So you'd be mad if I did it, but not her!?"

Qrow leaned forward, his hands set under his chin like he was uninterested in what the boy had to say. "It was Nora," he said obviously and gestured to her. "How could I be mad at that?"

Nora beamed her usual grin, her hand around a quiet boy's arm.

The sisters and the rest of the students couldn't contain their snickers.

* * *

 _Several years ago..._

Jet-black hair was sprawled out on the fluffy pillow in the pitch-dark room. The room was small and her cabin was made of modest wood. Her family never had much money, but this place was what she called home, and she loved it, even if it wasn't anything impressive.

Little Blake was trying to drift off into a slumber underneath the warm quilt, but the slamming of a door was a rude awakening to her sensitive ears.

Before she could even step out of her bed, there were two violent gunshots followed by screams of pain. Blake widened her golden eyes in fear as she grabbed a baseball bat she had hidden under her bed.

With trembling fingers, she carefully opened the door, somehow managing to do so without a sound. She had to stifle a gasp when she was met with the lifeless bodies of her parents sprawled out on the floor, coated in a pool of blood.

"Dammit," the intruder growled as he lowered his gun. "If only they didn't put up a fight."

Little Blake's cat ear twitched from the comment.

"It's okay," another voice chimed. Blake could tell it was a female. "They deserved it. Speaking out against us like that..."

The man smirked. "You're right, dear."

"Of course I am," the woman added satisfyingly.

Blake internally seethed. _Wait… speaking out against them? Do we know them?_

Tears ran down her cheeks as she gripped the bat even harder, her knuckles turning white. _Mom… dad…_ she couldn't rip her gaze away from her parents until she heard a dark chuckle.

"'Let's sort out our differences with words' they said," the woman quoted. "Sometimes in order to achieve peace, you have to use violence," she said as she stared at the corpses.

The man smirked, seemingly proud of her words. "Now they won't cause any more disturbances."

Little Blake grit her teeth at the sight of the people not only killed her parents, but berated them even in death.

Instead of grief, Blake felt something overtake her that she had never felt before.

It was pure...

Unbridled…

Rage.

Her vision clouded red.

Her amber orbs shifted to a fiery red and she darted out from the safety of her room. With a way cry, she began beating the intruders senseless with the bat. It took no time at all to smack their pistols out of their hands. The intruders were caught off guard and were hit in the skulls with violent thuds.

The man and woman fell to the floor, their arms up in surrender, but Blake was far too gone to realize they weren't going to put up a fight.

All she did was repeatedly pound the bat against their bodies as she straddled them with an iron grip.

Even though she was tiny, her rage was a force to be reckoned with.

Now panting for breath, she stopped her assault when a final sickening crunch rang out.

Her red eyes glazed over, now shifting back to their normal, gentle amber color. She took a deep breath and saw the aftermath. Like time had stopped, there were now four bodies lifeless on the cold, hard, wooden floor.

 _I… I killed them._

Blake's eyes widened in shock when she searched the intruder's faces. She was baffled to find out they were faunus, not only that, but familiar...

 _I-I know them! Why… Why would they-_

She gasped at the epiphany, her thoughts going back to the day before.

 _Mom and dad spoke out against violence at the White Fang rally,_ Blake thought. _Sure, they knew people would disagree, but THIS was the consequence?!_

Little Blake could no longer think and she started to sob over her parents. She could ponder everything later. Right now her losses hit her like she slammed into a brick wall at full force.

She gently moved a straying black hair that covered her mother's face. While trembling, the little girl hugged her mother, desperate to feel a pulse.

Only to feel none.

"Mom…" she pleaded for a sign of life, her body unable to stop trembling. "Mom… mom… mom…" tears never stopped falling as they dripped on her mother's peaceful face.

Blake cradled her mother's head and set her on the wooden floor with gentle care. Her attention was now on her father, who was right next to his lifeless wife.

"D-dad…" her voice cracked with misery. "I-I'm s-s-so sorry!" she buried her head into his chest to seek warmth, only to find his body was starting to turn cold.

She'd never hear their voices welcoming her home ever again.

See their cheery smiles.

Feel their warm, loving touch.

Or their loving embrace.

Over her bawling, she heard a man's gruff voice from behind.

"I saw what you did."

Blake's whimpers caught in her throat. The consequences slowly dawned on her. She would be charged for murder, and locked away for the rest of her life, that much was certain. Even though she committed such a heinous act, that was nothing compared to losing her loving parents.

Reluctantly, she looked up to see a man with bristly snow-white hair and pale blue, calculating eyes.

Without thinking, she gripped the deadly bat and jumped to her feet, staring at the stranger with her weapon at the ready. All she knew was that this man was a potential threat.

When she didn't respond, he said. "I didn't _just_ see that. I saw the whole thing," he stared at the grotesque scene, not affected by the fact that it reeked with blood. "What they did was wrong," he pointed to the murderers. "What you did was wrong," he pointed to the little girl.

"Spare me the lecture and just kill me!" she yelped, her bat wobbling in her hands. "Kill me like I killed them!"

The man was taken aback from her outburst, his gaze trailed to her parent's corpses. "Are they your parents?"

Little Blake's cat ears flattened on top of her head, her voice barely audible. "Were…"

"Do you have anywhere to return to?"

Little Blake's cat ears perked up, her bat lowered.

Return to?

This is where she lived her whole life. What'd he mean by 'return to?'

"This is my home," she replied softly, unsure of her words.

Now that her parents were gone, and her awful crime she just committed, could she really stay here?

"So you wish to stay?"

Blake averted her eyes, looking down at her mother and father for comfort, only to have the opposite effect. When he received no answer, the man continued. "Follow me," he turned around. "I have food, water, and shelter."

Blake lowered her head. "Why? You saw what I did... I'm a murderer!" tears cascaded down her cheeks like a waterfall and soaked the wooden floor.

"Repent by serving me," he spoke with conviction and no hesitation, certain of his words.

He was met with silence, and Blake's eyes never left her lifeless parents. The mysterious man started to walk away and almost out of sight.

Little Blake leaned down and kissed both of her parents' cheeks. "I'm sorry…" she breathed, her voice almost inaudible.

She remembered something in that moment. Her father kept his weapon under the kitchen cabinet at all times in case something like this happened. It didn't come in handy in this instance, but Blake didn't want to leave her father's precious treasure behind.

After her hand left her mother's black locks, Blake ran to the cabinet and then sheathed Gambol Shroud.

She was sure he would've wanted her to have it.

After that, Blake darted out the door and left it open. She trusted the police to find the scene and for people to put her parents to rest.

She caught up to the man and left everything she had known behind...

* * *

 **Fun fact: I based Blake killing those people off on Eren from Attack on Titan when he saved Mikasa. Ya know… that one brutal scene out of hundreds.**

 **Chapters 2 & 3 have/are flashbacks, but that doesn't make them less important. In fact, they are CRUCIAL. Chapter 4 is when the story starts advancing from the present. Seeya in a week!**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	3. It Is You I Have Sworn to Protect

**Sorry this is a tad late. We're getting ready for recruitment during polish week so things are pretty hectic right now and will be for the next two weeks. I moved into the sorority house so I also had to find a computer that would publish this since my laptop doesn't work. But everything worked out so I hope you like it!**

* * *

 _Several years ago..._

Little Weiss scampered through the pitch-black halls tainted red from the flames. The intoxicating smoke was beginning to invade her lungs, so she picked up her little feet as fast as she could to get away.

She realized she was alone, and her family wasn't present in the fumes. That was both good and bad. Good because there was still hope they were alive, and bad because she still didn't know if they were okay.

Her elder sister's room wasn't too far away, but it was blocked off by the fierce inferno that threatened to engulf her tiny body.

"Winter!" she desperately yelled, hoping to get someone's attention.

When she received no response, her head frantically whipped around. She felt like she was hit with a ton of bricks when her only path remaining was from where she came. Determined to live another day, little Weiss bolted back to search for another way out of her burning home.

 _Why is this happening?!_ Weiss yelled internally. _Where are mother and father? And Winter!? Everything is falling apart!_

Just as she thought that, part of the ceiling collapsed to the side of her. It narrowly missed the tiny target and she let out a frightened gasp as she jumped back in fear.

Now struggling to get oxygen in her lungs and very fatigued, she used her remaining energy to continue running. However, a figure leapt out of the flames and grabbed her dainty arm forcefully.

While shrieking, Weiss heard the man that grabbed her shout. "Finally! The pureblood power will be mine!" he straddled one of his burly hands around her throat.

Weiss was dangling in the air, completely helpless from the man's iron grip. She tried to loosen the grasp around her neck and raised her hands on top of his own to make him loosen his grip, but it was for naught. He was simply too strong.

"Be quiet. I came here for one thing and one thing only," the man slowly pulled out a knife from his back pocket.

From the sight, Weiss choked out a gasp. She desperately kicked her legs to get away from him, but to no avail. She tried to scream, but she was slowly suffocating from strangulation.

Before tears could stain her cheeks, a beam of threatening blue pricked the air. Little Weiss looked up to see the man's hand and full body encased in ice despite the sweltering heat.

 _That could only be-_

"Are you okay?!" the teenaged Winter asked, her voice full of panic as she checked her sister for injuries.

"Y-yes," Weiss barely rasped, still dangling from the man's frozen grip.

"Hold on," teenaged Winter took a stance and kicked the new ice sculpture, which caused the intruder to shatter to pieces.

Little Weiss landed on the ground with a thump, her eyes never leaving the broken pieces that was once a man. She held her throat and tried to gasp for breath, not able to pry her eyes away from the scene.

She couldn't believe what just happened. Her sister had technically murdered someone.

Little Weiss was frightened. "W-Winter, d-did you j-just-"

"We don't have time," Winter chided and picked up the youngest with ease. "We need to get out of here!" the flames were advancing on the sister duo, and the eldest wanted to do everything in her power to make sure they'd live another day.

The two made a beeline for the only available path left in the mansion that wasn't on fire. Little Weiss put her hand over her mouth to avoid the smoke that was rapidly filling her lungs. It was already hard to breathe from being strangled, having smoke invade the air didn't help.

The eldest picked up the pace, sprinting faster than she ever had before when she heard her sister cough and tremble in her arms. Winter's eyes locked onto one target at the end of the hall. It was embedded in the wall, transparent and made of glass.

"W-Winter, the only exit that way is..." Weiss didn't finish her sentence and let out a few coughs.

Teenaged Winter looked down at Weiss in her arms and sent her a concerned gaze. "I know."

"B-but you can't!" Weiss rasped, grasping her sister's arms. "You'll get hurt!"

"It's worth it," she replied, a smile present. "Don't worry, we'll be okay."

Little Weiss was shocked as she stared up and met Winter's determined eyes. Unbelieving of what she heard, she remained silent to process the events.

 _She might die if we jump from this high up! No!_ she shook her head. _Our kind might be able to handle a fall like this, but I don't know if Winter could, she's still not an adult!_

The glass window shattered as Winter's body plowed through it like a bulldozer. She made sure to tuck her little sister into her chest, protecting her from any straying shards.

The sisters didn't have time to scream as Winter shielded the youngest by changing positions, her back facing the ground as the eldest took the brunt of the impact…

* * *

 _A few years later..._

Once the Schnee's found a new home, Mr. Schnee got bodyguards for his daughters.

Winter was displeased with his pick. Her bodyguard adorned gray-black hair and red eyes. His posture was a little arrogant and his breath reeked of booze. He may not have been a vampire, but he was a professional hunter, which made him very fit for the job.

He was one of the few humans who had the privilege to know of vampire's existence.

With time, the two learned to get along. The man she came to know as Qrow never called her 'my lady,' the proper way to address a female pureblood, and instead labeled her the 'ice queen.'

When little Weiss met her bodyguard, she was confused when the girl was her age and of a different species.

"Father," little Weiss called as she inspected the new arrival.

"Yes?"

Weiss stared at the shaky girl. "Why did you pick a girl who seems to barely be able to fend for herself?"

"She's more than skilled in combat," he reassured. "Her name is Blake," when Weiss didn't respond, he continued. "You don't know this but she's also a vampire. An aristocrat, with only a touch of human blood in her. She'll be able to protect you. Trust me."

"You're not just a vampire," Weiss gazed at Blake's cat ears. "You're a blood-faunus."

Her father felt the need to add in. "Blood-faunus are known for their quick reflexes. She's the best candidate. Plus… you could use a friend."

"I promise I'll protect you with my life," Blake chimed, her head bowed to Weiss, "my lady."

Weiss smiled and lifted the girl's chin up to meet her amber eyes. "It's Weiss. Call me Weiss, Blake."

"Okay."

It felt odd to the tiny heiress that a girl her age addressed her as a higher authority. It felt odd in a bad way. She wanted to fix that feeling immediately.

* * *

After the incident several years ago, the Schnee's found a new mansion across the world.

In Vale.

From the incident several years ago, Weiss had gotten away with a few scratches and oxygen deprivation, needing a mask to breathe for a period of time.

Winter had more severe injuries. Some of her ribs were broken from the fall, including a spinal injury, a broken leg, and gashes throughout her body. However, their genes were generous, allowing all the injuries to heal in a couple of weeks.

Their parents had a different experience. Attackers invaded their room in the dead of night. After they had taken them all down, their mother smelled the smoke. They had been distracted long enough so that the fire had already spread throughout the vast mansion.

Months went by as Mr. and Mrs. Schnee cursed themselves for having been found out again. Him and his wife moved several times because the hidden vampires in the towns they were living in somehow found out they were purebloods and craved their power. Other bad vampires hunted them down for power.

Pureblood vampires were a different story from regular vampires. Purebloods have no hint of human in their blood, making them the most powerful of the vampire race.

This makes purebloods extremely rare.

There are only a few purebloods in existence, the Schnee family being a part of them.

Being a pureblood means your life is constantly in danger. When purebloods are killed, their murderer can attain the pureblood power. Since many people crave that kind of power, their lives are always at risk.

Even though the Schnee family are some of the last purebloods in existence, they also own the world's largest dust industry. Therefore, they have much respect from the people who happen to know they are vampires (vampires themselves) and humans in general.

Shortly after little Weiss and Blake met, the two found themselves in the heiress' room.

Little Weiss was sitting on her bed reading a book. Next to her, was her trusty rapier called Myrtenaster that practically twinkled. She never went anywhere without it since the attack.

Her focus was dwindling when her eyes failed to scan the pages of her book. She couldn't focus when little Blake kept staring at her, who was sitting on the ground and watching her every move.

Reluctantly shutting her book, the heiress gazed at the blood-faunus. "What?"

Blake tilted her head in confusion. "What do you mean 'what?'"

"What are you doing?" Weiss questioned. "You're just staring at me."

"I'm bodyguarding you," little Blake answered as if it was obvious. "What concerns you, my lady?"

Weiss sighed from the name. "I told you, it's Weiss. Don't call me that and come join me."

"J-join you?" the aristocrat was baffled by her words.

Little Weiss pat the bed and held up the book. "Don't you wanna read this cool story with me?"

Amber eyes widened and her stomach churned. Blake hadn't read since she left her old home. Reading seemed like a world away, in fact, she never thought she'd be able to read again after joining Weiss' family. Blake was deep in thought, dearly missing her books already.

"But if I do that I can't bodyguard you," the blood-faunus murmured, her gaze fixed on the heiress.

From her companion's reaction, little Weiss determined she did want to read. "So you do like reading," little Weiss stated as a fact. "Hush and join me. You'll be right next to me so you can guard me all you want," she made sure to add.

Little Blake wasn't sure if she was allowed on little Weiss' spacious blue bed. It wasn't until the heiress pat the sheets again did little Blake crawl on top with the help of the other vampire.

After pulling Blake on top of the bed, Weiss cracked open the book, but then sensed the blood-faunus was nervous.

"It's okay, you can be up here. Now let's read the story together!"

Blake glimpsed from Weiss and then to the book she was holding.

"O-okay."

* * *

 **The chapter title is a reference to one of the songs this story is somewhat based off of. The lyrics are from X.U. (Owari no Seraph's opening) by Amalee.**

 **Lyrics: "All this time I never meant you harm. So come what may 'it is you I have sworn to protect.'" Which refers to Qrow & Blake (the bodyguards) protecting Winter & Weiss.**

 **Many references like this occur throughout the story, so once again, give the songs a listen so you kinda know how everything connects.**

 **And yeah, Blake's an aristocrat. Before anyone makes the joke allow me to. *ahem* I guess you could call her an aristoCAT. Haven't heard that one before.**

 **Blood-faunus just means Blake is simply a faunus and a vampire mix. Since she has little human blood in her, she's also an aristocrat. Or an aristoCAT. Whatever floats your boat.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	4. Loyalty to Fate

_Present day..._

Three women stood at the top of elegant marbled stairs in their respective white dresses. The large crowd didn't take their eyes off them for a second.

"Introducing Winter, Weiss, and Blake Schnee!"

The crowd respectfully bowed from their authority.

Blake resisted the urge to roll her eyes, she wasn't used to being placed on a pedestal.

She wasn't even an official Schnee.

The only reason she took on the name was so she could leave her old life behind in hopes that no one would find her. That no one would know about her past and what crimes she committed. She knew there were downsides to taking on the Schnee name, like people wanting to kill her because she's a 'pureblood.'

In reality she was just an aristocrat vampire with a touch of human blood in her.

People all around thought she was an actual Schnee, but had their doubts based on appearances alone. The family claimed she was part of their blood, but it was obvious she was adopted with her cat ears, jet black hair, and amber eyes.

The complete opposite of what the Schnee's were known for.

The three made their way down the stairs slowly.

"This fucking sucks," Weiss whispered under her breath, a forced smile on her face.

Winter kept staring at the crowd and barely moved her lips. "Suck it up."

Weiss wanted to see how Blake was doing, so she slightly tilted her head to take a look, not surprised to see her usual poker face.

Now the three joined the crowd, and Winter was quite literally whisked away by Qrow when he grabbed her forearm.

Weiss and Blake heard her yelping. "Where are you taking me? I have duties to attend to!"

"Calm down ice queen," Qrow smirked. "What I have in mind is better than entertaining these suck ups."

From the comment, a blush grew on Winter's cheeks. She quickly regained her composure, and the two bickered as Qrow dragged her through the halls. Winter obviously didn't want to abandon her duties, but Qrow was always persistent when he wanted something.

"Please take me with…" Weiss pleaded almost inaudibly.

The aristocrat's cat ear flicked from the request. "It's okay. You just have one suitor to talk to today."

"Just one," Weiss repeated, sarcasm in her tone. "You're right, but it's a little more complex than that. This vampire is supposedly another pureblood."

A server interrupted the pair when he showed up with wine glasses. "Would you like one?"

The liquid was dyed red, that could only be-

"Is that wine?" Blake asked to make sure.

"No, no," the man assured. "This is water with the finest blood tablets we have to offer."

"Wonderful," Weiss grabbed a glass and took a sip, already feeling satisfied.

Blake followed suit and took her own glass, taking slow sips to savor the taste.

Blood tablets were nothing compared to real blood, but it satisfied a vampire's urges for the most part. Serving human blood at a vampire party was considered barbaric. Typically vampires aren't considered to have manners when it came to blood, but they tried to keep it classy.

Mostly for appearance's sake.

When the man walked away, the two continued their conversation.

"So you're meeting with another pureblood?" the blood-faunus asked, baffled by the possibility.

"Yes," Weiss took another sip. "He's apparently closer to my age, so Winter gets a free pass."

"Lucky her," Blake remarked.

Weiss hummed in agreement, but then smelled a strong aroma. If she could guess, it was cologne. Intent to find the source, she turned around, only to see a tall boy standing right behind her.

"Are you ladies talking about me?"

 _Plus one point,_ Weiss internally thought, pleasantly enjoying his scent.

Blake and Weiss' full attention was now on him. He clearly liked their company and beamed a sparkling grin.

He was tall with red hair and seemed polite. His black tuxedo complimented his bulky build and broad shoulders.

"Hello there, snow angel," the boy greeted, only staring at Weiss.

The blood-faunus took the hint and silently left the two to talk alone.

 _Minus one point,_ Weiss irritably thought after the nickname he gave her.

Over the last few years of meeting suitors and finding them distasteful, Weiss had made a game out of it to entertain herself. Whenever they said or did something she didn't like, she'd 'subtract points' they'd need to impress her. If they did or said something she liked she'd 'add points.'

The furthest any suitor had ever gotten to was zero.

 _It's already going downhill,_ Weiss irritably thought.

"Call me Weiss, and you are?"

"Cardin," he replied. "Cardin Winchester."

 _He IS the pureblood!_ Weiss thought. _If he isn't like the other suitors this may go well._

"So you're the pureblood father keeps talking about," Weiss stated. "It's a pleasure."

"Trust me, the pleasure's mine," Cardin replied with a hint of lust in his tone.

 _Oh god…_

"Negative one…" she murmured.

Cardin cocked his head. "What?"

"Tell me about yourself," Weiss quickly said, hiding her small, microscopic scowl.

Cardin shrugged. "There's nothing much to know. I have no family and I'm the only known pureblood besides you and your family."

"Interesting," Weiss replied, gripping her glass a little tighter. Purebloods were known to be killed for their power, so she guessed that happened in his case and that made her feel slight empathy towards him, even though he may not deserve it. To confirm she asked. "Were they killed?"

"Of course," Winchester said obviously. "It's just another one of those typical sob stories. They were taken by greed."

Weiss couldn't figure out why he was being so nonchalant about such a touchy subject and casually scanned the ballroom. If their deaths didn't bother him, then she didn't need to show any compassion towards him.

At least that's how she felt.

Being treated like a victim was the worst.

Almost everyone was watching the two converse while having idle chatter.

 _Of course they'd stare,_ Weiss thought. _I'm expected to carry on the bloodline with this man,_ she gazed at the boy, who seemed to be in his own world talking about himself. _He's the only other male pureblood not related to me. Everyone wants us to have offspring..._

She carefully lifted the glass and took another sip, content to ponder her thoughts.

Cardin saw what was in the drink and scoffed. "You drink that crap?"

"Pardon?"

 _Negative two points._

"Blood tablets," Cardin clarified. He could tell what they were based on how watery the substance was, instead of his thicker red drink. "How can you satisfy your urges with _that?_ You need the real deal. _"_

"I prefer not killing innocent people," Weiss informed solemnly, taking another swig to spite him. "Where did you get _that_?" she asked, referring to his drink.

"This was my catch before the party started," Winchester darkly laughed. "You should have heard him scream…"

She could handle the cockiness, the laid-back attitude and his tastes, but killing people for sport drew the line. She was appalled that he could kill a human with no remorse.

Weiss grit her teeth. "You are such a pig."

 _Forget having his babies! This… thing will be nothing but scum for the rest of his life!_

"Hey now," Cardin put his firm hand on her shoulder. "That's how we survive."

Weiss smacked his hand away. "There are other ways!"

Before the boy could grab her arm, a puff of black scattered in the middle of the pair. A familiar presence popped in between the two.

"Is there a problem here?" Blake asked, her glare fixed on the boy.

Cardin stepped back from surprise and shook it off. He took one look at Blake's cat ears and scowled in disgust. "Why are you here, _half-breed?_ " he spat that word like it was poison.

Even though Blake was an aristocrat, she earned some respect because of that. However, just by looking at her people knew she was also a half faunus, half vampire.

In the vampire world, half-breeds were looked down on, except the Schnee's had a mutual respect for them because of Blake.

Weiss got in Cardin's face. "I can handle your arrogance and awful life-choices, but I won't allow you to talk down to Blake! She's my sister and bodyguard," she informed. "So if you don't want to get your ass kicked, I'd suggest you leave."

"Whatever, _bitch,_ " he seethed. "I can have whoever I want anyways."

"Negative," Blake stated as she grabbed Weiss' half-full glass. " One-thousand!" she dumped the red liquid on him.

Weiss stared at Blake and was proud of what she did. Weiss had told her about the game, after all. The two sisters glared at Cardin, proud of the events.

His black tux stained red as he stumbled back with shock. "What the hell?!"

"You can call me names, but if you so much as _look_ at Weiss," Blake's tone lowered menacingly as she grabbed his collar. "I'll end you."

Cardin pried his eyes away from the aristocrat's threatening ones, taking note that almost everyone in the crowd was staring. Not wanting to make even more of a scene, he left while muttering obscenities under his breath.

"What a douche," Blake said as the two watched him scamper away.

Weiss sighed. "Yeah."

* * *

Blake was in the corner sitting at a table trying to listen to Weiss and the boy converse. Her sensitive cat ears allowed her to pinpoint their conversation rather than random people in the crowd. Being Weiss' bodyguard was constant and always required her full attention.

Her arms were crossed as a signal for people not to approach. Some people didn't get the hint and she was forced to turn down another person who asked her to dance. Reality became clear to her that these people saw the Schnee's as a way to climb up the social ladder. She was fully aware Winter and Weiss thought the same way.

 _That guy seemed okay,_ Blake thought as she inspected Cardin. _But pick-up lines never work on Weiss._

"...It's obvious she's not one of them…"

The blood-faunus shook her head when she heard the bystander's gossip. She thought she'd be used to it by this point, but it seems she was wrong.

To distract herself, she zeroed back in on the pair's conversation.

 _Oh man,_ Blake thought. _This guy is a tool._

She watched Weiss take a sip of her drink, her expression bland.

The aristocrat had to stifle a giggle. She knew that look her sister gave him, it was the same look she gave all the other boys she wasn't interested in.

 _She's not even listening to him. Who would?_ Blake asked herself. _It sucks that he's the only other pureblood vampire we know about that isn't related to them. Otherwise she wouldn't give him the time of day._

Her amber orbs could have pierced through Winchester if he was aware of her death glare.

She gulped the rest of her drink, forcing herself to down it.

When she saw Cardin put his hand on Weiss' shoulder, Blake hastily stood, her chair screeching against the floor.

 _How DARE he touch her!_

Blake slammed her glass on the table and vanished into thin air.

Vampires have a unique ability to them. The vampire's ability was called 'zehn,' and in Blake's case, she could teleport at certain ranges. Since she was at a vampire party, she could use her ability freely.

She reappeared within a second in between the two.

"Is there a problem here?"

* * *

"You're right," Winter admitted. "This is much better than the party."

Qrow held back a laugh. "Of course it is. It's gorgeous out here."

Stars illuminated the sky as the two stood on the balcony. The backyard was vast and had hundreds of trees and other flora. The double doors were made of wood, so no one could see the two standing out there. They could finally have some privacy.

Winter took a deep breath as she leaned over the railing and stared at the moon. "Thanks for being a… decent… bodyguard."

Qrow couldn't help but laugh from her comment. "Decent? Is that all I am?" he walked over to stand next to her, taking in the calm breeze that whipped through their hair.

Winter tore her gaze from the moon to him. "That's all you get."

"You're not even gonna call me devilishly handsome? Wicked smart? You know I'm the best bodyguard ever," he joined her and leaned over the railing.

Winter faintly laughed. "Keep telling yourself that."

"Maybe I will, ice queen," Qrow sent a wink.

Winter sighed. "Will you ever call me anything else?"

"You mean like 'daddy's girl'?" Qrow questioned. "Good idea."

"No!" Winter waved her hands frantically. "Anything but that!"

Qrow let out a genuine chuckle. "Ice queen it is, then."

Winter was silent, allowing the wind to answer for her.

The two enjoyed the calm atmosphere side-by-side. A smile crept on her lips as she stared at the man she had grown tolerant of.

* * *

 **The blood tablet idea is from an anime called Vampire Knight. If you know me by now you'd know I like anime and I can't help it. Hope you liked this week's chapter!**

 **~Stay dandy,**

 **Toto**


	5. The Orange Scarf

_Present day…_

"Yang, are you really gonna get that?"

"Yes, Rubes!" Yang irritably replied. "For the millionth time, I want this orange scarf!"

The blonde kept soothing her fingers through the silky fabric and cooing to herself. From what Ruby could tell, her older sister had found exactly what she was looking for. For Yang, it was practically love at first sight.

Thinking logically, Ruby exclaimed. "It's like 80 degrees outside! I get it if you want it during winter, but now-"

Yang replied almost immediately, having a counter at the ready. "Hey, you're the one that wears a cape 24/7, so don't give me that."

Ruby almost retorted, but her sister made a good point. She had no room to talk. Pouting, she puffed her cheeks after a sigh.

"Is that all you're buying?"

"Yep!" The blonde popped the 'p.' "It totally matches my combat outfit."

The piece of simple fabric pulled her outfit together nicely. To say Yang was proud of herself was an understatement.

"You sound so…."

"Right?" Yang asked, flaunting her newest purchase.

"White," Ruby corrected.

The two had been arguing inside the store in Vale for about an hour. The elder sister insisted on going to town for sisterly bonding time... and to get a scarf to complete her newest combat outfit. She had to admit, the accessory was more than worth the money.

"Whatever," Ruby sighed. "Can we get food now?"

"Do you have more money?" Yang asked as she walked to the cash register.

"Uhhhhh," the brunette hastily checked her pockets for cash. "Just some change…"

"I don't either," Yang finished paying for the item as the two walked towards the exit. "Not after buying that. I'm all out."

"But you're the older sister! You're supposed to be the in charge of the money!" Ruby exclaimed. She saw the wry grin on her sister's face and sighed. "Never mind, why do I even try?"

"Ha," Yang shrugged, using a dry tone. "You've learned."

Over the years, Ruby had been the more responsible one when it came to money. She was usually thriftier than Yang, but the blonde had her redeeming traits as well. Yang helped out around the house more than Ruby, and always helped their father, Taiyang, cook. Last but not least, Yang _always_ watched out for her family like a lion would for his pride. If anyone threatened her beloved family, or baby sister...

Dust, there'd be consequences.

Before the two could leave the store, Ruby gasped when she caught a glimpse in the corner. It was a tall rectangular machine that had a dimmed light bulb, and displayed various snacks.

"A vending machine!" Ruby darted over to it and frantically searched for one item in particular.

"Rubes, I don't think they have-"

"COOKIES!" Ruby excitedly squealed.

"Never mind..."

If there was one thing that got her younger sister excited, it was those delicious treats. It didn't matter who made them or where they came from, Ruby would always inhale the sweets like a vacuum.

The brunette stuck her change in the machine and hastily grabbed the cookie bag. Thankfully, she had just enough change for the purchase. Yang could see her sister practically drooling in delight when she opened the bag with a soft pop.

Ruby happily munched on her snack while humming a chipper tune.

"You happy?" Yang asked, a wide grin present.

"Ywrah!" Ruby replied, her mouth still full of cookies.

Once she got her treat the sisters finally left the store contently. Vale was busy as always. It was summer break before school started, so various people of all ages roamed the town. The sisters began walking around, not knowing their next destination.

"There's only a few weeks left," Yang mentioned.

Ruby swallowed her food and realized what she was referring to. "Oh man! Beacon is going to be so awesome!"

" _If_ you get accepted," the blonde reminded. "But I wouldn't worry about it. You'll get accepted. I don't think I know anyone else who has as much talent as you."

Her words rang true. Ruby had advanced two grades in Signal Acadamy all on her own. This allowed her to be placed in Yang's graduating class. Since there was a two-year difference, Ruby was at a slight disadvantage with experience in combat, but she had worked hard with her family to get better at it.

All to be accepted into Beacon to become a huntress to follow her lifelong dream.

This made Yang admire her baby sister immensely.

She had pure adoration for Ruby.

Even though she was still technically a kid, Yang couldn't wait to see what an amazing huntress Ruby would become.

A faint blush crept on Ruby's cheeks. "Stop it~" her tone meaning anything but doing so.

"I mean it, but listen," Yang continued, her shift in voice made Ruby pay extra attention. "You just gotta be yourself. Don't be nervous and take everything in stride."

"I knooowwwwwww," the brunette dragged out. "You and dad keep telling me this. I get it already."

"Good, because if you didn't I'd punch it into that thick skull of yours."

Ruby smiled and kept chewing her snack. Knowing Yang, she would try to rattle her skull if it came down to it, but probably softly and thus defeat the whole point. After finishing her thoughts, it didn't take Ruby long to eat all of her snack in less than a minute.

"Yaaaaaaang," Ruby whined. "I'm still hungry!"

"Wanna head back home?" Yang asked. "I'm sure dad'll whip you up something."

Even though Ruby was a prodigy when it came to grades, she still acted somewhat immature. Yang was completely fine with that. The last thing she wanted was her baby sister to grow up. The next chapter in life was vastly approaching, so Yang wanted to savor every moment until then. Beacon would most likely cause Ruby to grow mentally even more than physically, and Yang wanted to be part of nurturing her baby sister to be the best huntress she can be.

Ruby pumped her fist in the air. "Yes! Dad's cooking! Do you think he'll make strawberry shortcake again!?"

 _She may be a prodigy, but she's still just a kid,_ Yang pondered fondly when Ruby let out another squeal.

"I'm sure he will," the blonde replied with an ear-to-ear grin.

Ruby couldn't contain her excitement as she bolted ahead without looking where she was going.

"Ruby, look out!" Yang yelped when she saw a little boy sprinting down the sidewalk in her baby sister's path.

"Why-OOMPH!" Ruby slammed into him, the little kid only stood up to her knees. She barely kept her balance as she checked him over. "Are you okay!?"

The little boy was on his butt on the hard concrete. The fall must've hurt, so Ruby felt like a monster for almost running a tiny kid down like he was a bowling pin.

"Y-yeah!" the boy replied, fright clearly in his eyes as he scrambled to stand.

Ruby was relieved to see that he could stand, but he still looked terrified.

Yang caught up to the two and kneeled down to get at eye level. It was easier to converse with kids when getting down to their height. She hoped he'd feel less intimidated this way.

"Are you alone? Where are your parents?" Yang asked, concern in her tone.

"Gotta go! Th-there's a monster nearby!" the boy said nothing else and sprinted away.

The confused sisters watched him bolt off. What he said was strange, but they were glad he didn't seem to have any injuries.

"What was he so scared of? A monster?" Ruby asked, holding her chin in thought.

"Maybe it was you," the blonde laughed. "You are intimidating."

"Am not," Ruby replied.

"You're right. Saying you're intimidating is like saying a little puppy is. It's just not possible," Yang stated.

Ruby's chuckles were cut off when the sisters heard screams in the distance. Ruby's expression went from cheerful to dead serious within a matter of seconds as she pulled out her weapon's compact form.

Yang had never seen her sister look so stern and that prompted her to cock Ember Celica. Watching Ruby get serious caused Yang to follow.

She had no idea why.

There was an aura around Ruby. Not her literal aura... but something else was there.

The natural ability to lead.

The sisters scanned the area for threats, side-by-side. Several feet away were beowolves. Not one, but a whole pack of them.

"Maybe that's what the kid was talking about…" Ruby couldn't help but mumble.

Citizens were running in all directions to get away from the grimm.

"What the hell are grimm doing here?" Yang asked Ruby as the two sprinted to the horde.

"No clue," Ruby replied as she drew Crescent Rose. "That doesn't matter right now, we need to take them down!"

The two sisters split up to take on the pack in a more efficient manner. The less citizens in danger, the better.

"On it!" the blonde dove towards a snarling beowolf.

She rocketed a punch directly in its face, which sent it flying. In a split second, three more surrounded her.

"Oh, you want some of this!?"

Meanwhile, Ruby sliced a beowolf in half before it could break into a store. Her silver eyes locked onto any straying grimm who had separated from the pack. She wasted no time and took care of them before they could venture too far into the city. Of course, she checked on Yang every few seconds to make sure she was okay. Needless to say, she was not surprised when Yang practically blew up one of the creatures and was dominating the battle.

Yang finally let down her defensive stance and scanned the area once more. Mainly to check on her sister as well. She was relived Ruby was okay, but a few meters away, there was a random girl stubbornly holding her ground against one of the straying beowolves. Instead of looking distraught like Yang expected her to, the girl looked pissed, and most of all, annoyed. The blonde was baffled when she noticed the stranger glared at the grimm like it was a mere nuisance.

The stranger's hair was a pure snow white that shone even more brightly under the sweltering sun. Yang was starting to wonder if a pale thing like her would get burnt under the harsh rays. She was lost in thought as she stared into her azure eyes, thinking she could drown in those pools of blue.

The beowolf's snarl snapped her out of her thoughts. It was then that Yang realized the girl was weaponless.

She would most likely get hurt if Yang just stood there!

Protecting the citizens was Yang's aspiring job, and she could start here.

Without thought, Yang flew over by using the recoil on her weapon. With a war cry, she punched the grimm senseless, but the beast managed to raise its claws for a swipe.

On instinct, Yang grabbed the nearest thing to block the attack.

Her new orange scarf.

Her eyes went wide when she heard the sickening rip of cloth and watched it tear to tiny shreds.

"You monster!"

With a final grunt, she used Ember Celica to blast the beowolf to pieces-just like the beast did to her newest accessory.

Once the beowolf dissipated, Yang frantically faced the stranger.

"Are you okay?!"

* * *

 **Is that who you think it is? Hmmm... you'll see next week.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	6. We're Not So Bad?

After the vampire ball, Weiss and Blake teamed up to persuade their father to let them roam around town.

They convinced him it was to learn the townies' ways, when in reality it was a desperate attempt to catch a break from their lives as vampires.

Blake and Weiss were happily walking down the sidewalk in bustling Vale, the blood-faunus taking joy in watching Weiss hum a chipper tune.

 _She's so happy,_ Blake thought with a grin. _I haven't seen her genuine smile in a while._

Weiss noticed her staring. "What's up, Blake?"

"Nothing," the aristocrat easily replied. "I was just thinking that this was a good idea."

The sky was clear, so Blake was wearing jean shorts and a black blouse, while Weiss chose to wear a simple blue sundress.

"Of course it was a good idea," Weiss stated as she spread her arms out to soak up the sun's rays. "It's such a beautiful day."

The sun was beaming proudly on the city while people scampered in stores to buy items. Blake and Weiss had been roaming for a couple of hours with no clear destination. Sometimes just walking around was the best way to spend time.

The blood-faunus stifled a chuckle as she watched Weiss enjoy the sun. She remembered her sister _hated_ vampire stereotypes. The two got into an interesting conversation about how the humans who made up the myth that vampires were allergic to the sun are "barbaric idiots."

Interested in the stereotypes herself, Blake went to the library to find out more about what humans thought. Weiss walked in on her reading a book she found in the 'fiction' section titled, "Weaknesses of Every Vampire" by Eldir Arc.

The stereotype that appalled Weiss the most was the fact that people thought vampires couldn't stand water. Yeah, Blake hates water but she thought that was due to her cat faunus traits. Weiss on the other hand and the rest of the vampire race handled liquids perfectly fine.

To spite another stereotype, the two sisters had their father buy them garlic. Blake remembered Weiss viciously punched garlic while she repeatedly shouted, "TAKE THAT YOU STUPID PIECE OF SHIT!"

When the blood-faunus laughed at the memory, Weiss couldn't help but question her.

"Why're you laughing?"

"Just remembered something," Blake mentioned, amusement in her voice. "It's nothing important."

The two entered a random store to browse and when Weiss saw a machine at the end of the hall, she stopped in her tracks.

"What's wrong?" Blake asked.

Weiss almost ran to the machine, placing her fingers on the glass while looking inside.

Blake watched in mirth as her sister curiously searched the machine. Before the blood-faunus joined her, she scanned her surroundings to make sure nothing suspicious was going on.

She was still her bodyguard, after all.

The aristocrat wouldn't even be her 'sister' if Mr. Schnee hadn't found her that night and graciously allowed her to become a bodyguard...

Most vampires knew she was a blood-faunus, but if she could avoid people finding out, she would, so currently she was wearing a bow to cover her cat ears.

Blake approached and laughed from her sister's reaction. "That's a vending machine."

"I-I knew that!" Weiss exclaimed, her cheeks red from embarrassment.

 _Oh my god, she so didn't,_ Blake thought.

"Admiring the peasant lifestyle?" Blake asked teasingly.

"I'm doing no such thing," Weiss huffed, crossing her arms and found one item in particular interesting.

Blake sighed, her amber eyes still fixed on her sister's conflicted face. "What do you want?"

"That," Weiss pointed to a red soda can and squinted her eyes to read the label. "Wait… what's a 'cock-a-cola?'"

"Coca cola!" Blake corrected and sighed once more. "Jeez, why the hell would anyone name a drink that?"

"I don't know!" Weiss flailed her arms in emphasis. "People are perverts!" she turned back to stare at the drink.

"Still," Blake chimed. "You sure you want it? Our tastebuds are a little… different… than a human's."

That was putting it lightly...

"Might as well try it while we're here," Weiss replied.

"Alright," Blake gave in. "Give me your money. I'll show you how to use it."

Weiss immediately reached in her purse for some cash and handed the currency to her.

"It's actually really easy," the blood-faunus started. "First you push the number to the corresponding thing you want," she looked at the digits and typed them in. "Then you put the money in the right side up. Just look at the picture above, see?"

Weiss stared at the image of a dollar plastered on the machine with curiosity. "Okay…"

The machine pushed out the soda and Weiss jumped back, clearly startled when it shook a bit from the landing.

Blake stared at the bottom of the machine, directly at the movable flap, and then at her sister. "Go on."

She had done all the work so far. The least Weiss could do was grab the drink she wanted to test.

The heiress nodded and reached in, surprised to see the can was indeed at the bottom. She pulled it out and fiddled with the tab. "Huh…"

Blake wasn't surprised her sister didn't know how to work a vending machine or open a soda. Weiss had been isolated most of her life, but Blake had experience in the real world before her parents were murdered.

That experience sure came in handy in times like this.

"Here," Blake took the can and pried open the tab, handing it back to Weiss. "You really haven't opened a soda before?"

"Shut up!" Weiss replied in a fluster. "O-of course I have!"

 _She's too proud to admit it,_ the blood-faunus thought. _She's got a lot to learn._

After Weiss took a sip of the foreign drink and grimaced in distaste, a stranger called out.

"Excuse me, Miss?"

The two faced the newcomer as Blake silently scolded herself for not hearing the person approach.

"Do you need something?" Weiss asked in a business-like tone.

"Sorry for the interruption," the woman apologized. "I'm the manager of the shop. Are you the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company?"

 _Here we go again,_ the aristocrat thought.

The Schnee's were known for their white hair and blue eyes. Blake was the polar opposite of their typical appearance, so she had rarely been recognized as one of them.

"I am," Weiss informed with a forced smile.

"Whatever you buy here is on the house," the manager said. "We owe your father a lot. It's the least I can do."

As the years ticked by, Blake felt more and more like an outcast in the family even though she was treated like one of their own.

"Thank you for the offer, but we were just leaving," Weiss replied evenly as she set the soda to the side, abandoning the drink. She then headed to the exit without sparing the random woman a glimpse. "Blake, are you coming?"

The aristocrat shook her head to snap out of her thoughts. "Yeah."

Mr. and Mrs. Schnee always had a lot of money due to inheritance. Once their family moved to Vale a few years ago, the couple decided to buy the world's largest energy dust producing company. They then began plastering the name 'Schnee' on the company along with their snowflake logo.

The pureblood parents had been alive for many years, even though they definitely didn't look like they had been. They mostly bought a revolutionary company out of boredom, which spoke volumes of who they were, especially since they had done a great job with the financial aspects that came along with the company.

The one thing they never did was use cheap faunus labor. This was because of Blake. As a blood-faunus, she had excelled in her job of protecting Weiss over the years. The pureblood parents quickly learned that faunus traits give the individual enhanced reflexes, making the Schnee's respect blood-faunus and faunus in general.

All because of Blake.

The two exited the store and Weiss had a frown present.

"It bothers me that no one recognizes you're a Schnee."

" _You_ are the heiress," Blake reminded. "Not me. Besides, we aren't even related and I think it's obvious."

The white-haired girl couldn't help but giggle. "Which part? The hair, ears, or eyes?"

Blake's grin grew. "Literally everything."

The two rounded a corner while faintly chuckling. Their laughter was cut short when Weiss accidentally bumped into a little boy. He was so small she only stumbled back a few steps.

As he stumbled back, Weiss leaned down to get at eye-level with him. "Are you okay?"

The boy gazed at her and started screaming, obviously terrified. Before they could say anything else, he bolted down the sidewalk, still shouting and whimpering.

"Am I really _that_ scary?!" Weiss fumed. "Ugh, stupid little boy…"

"Weiss," the blood-faunus called to get her attention. She then pointed to her own teeth. "Put them away."

The heiress covered her mouth frantically. "Are you kidding me!? I've never had to put them away all these years! We're not so bad with these, you know."

Hiding vampire features was easy to do in public, but Weiss couldn't understand why people thought fangs were so intimidating.

They could be used as an advantage if a normal person had them.

But no, she was a vampire, and therefore, it would be seen as a threat.

She tried to justify in her mind that the vampire race wasn't so bad to others…

Right?

"We're in public," the Blake reminded and shifted to a low whisper. "Your fangs need to be hidden."

"You're right," after a sigh, Weiss retracted the daggers she called teeth and opened wide for her sister to check. "Is it clear?"

"Crystal," Blake replied. "Sorry I didn't remind you. I thought you'd remember fangs aren't exactly normal."

"Don't give me that," Weiss snapped. "I never have to hide them back home."

"Get used to it," Blake suggested. "People don't exactly know we exist."

Weiss rolled her eyes from the obvious comment as she stared at the blood-faunus. Her posture was rigid and cat ears upright, alert of her surroundings. It was obvious Blake was tense when she saw her cautiously scan the area every minute.

"Blake."

"Huh?"

"I get that you're my bodyguard," Weiss stated. "But you're also my sister and that comes first. Stop being so tense and enjoy yourself for once."

The blood-faunus sighed when she realized her words rang true. "Alright, fine. You win." Taking her advice, she stopped walking when she smelled a nearby bakery. "I'll be right back. I'm a little hungry, do you want anything from the bakery?"

"No thanks, you go do that," Weiss replied. "I'll be waiting out here."

"Okay," the aristocrat ran off in a hurry, intent to get the errand done as soon as possible. "Be right back."

"Take your time, Blake," Weiss murmured, knowing her sister's sensitive hearing would catch the phrase.

Before she knew it, Weiss was cloud gazing at the pure blue sky. Not very many people were in town anymore. She guessed that was because it was almost evening. It was the most serene moment she'd experienced in a long time. Back home, there was always something to worry about. Whether it was their existence, the company, or just basic training.

She was so caught up in the blissful moment that she was shocked to hear a menacing snarl a few feet away.

 _What…?_ Weiss asked herself.

The day had almost been perfect...

She whipped her head to face the noise and saw a lone beowolf in the middle of town. It was approaching her slowly, lifting its nose to smell for its prey.

… too bad the beowolf ruined it.

Weiss took a defensive stance as she slowly stepped back.

 _What the hell is a grimm doing in the middle of the city?_ Weiss thought and shook her head. _No, think about that later. Right now, just try to use zehn to kill it._

The Schnee's specific vampire ability, 'zehn,' allowed them to use the ice element freely without the use of dust and aura.

Weiss searched the area to make sure no one was around so she could use her special ability freely.

If anyone saw her use zehn, there'd be undeniable consequences.

When the grimm was about a meter away from her, Weiss flicked her wrist to get ready to impale the monster with a giant ice shard by using zehn.

Before she could do so, a girl with flowing golden hair knocked the beowolf out of her line of vision. Weiss watched the stranger with calculating eyes while the other girl's war cries and grunts reached her ears.

 _Her fighting style is barbaric,_ Weiss thought as she watched the blonde punch the grimm senseless.

The heiress was amused when the stranger used her scarf to block a swipe from the beast.

 _What a waste of a perfectly good piece of fabric._

The stranger turned around to face her when she finished the grimm off. Her blonde mane dramatically whipped through the breeze, causing Weiss to admire that specific feature on the stranger. Weiss couldn't help but notice the stranger had gentle lilac eyes and a very concerned expression when she opened her mouth to speak.

"Are you okay!?"

* * *

 **The title references the song Let Me Hear by Natewantstobattle.**

 **Lyrics: "That at a point when we're born we are… 'we're not so bad.'" However, in the chapter, it's phrased as more of a question rather than a statement. They doubt their vampiric existence is a good thing…**

 **Right?**


	7. Unexpected Encounter

"Are you okay?!"

Weiss stared at the blonde with a scowl. "I was about to handle it!"

Yang was obviously baffled from the reply. The last thing she was expecting was sass. "You're defenseless! You don't even have a weapon on you, what do you mean you could'a taken 'em?!"

The white-haired girl's eyes narrowed in frustration.

 _Things would be much easier if humans knew about zehn! She doesn't even know I have an aura!_

Zehn works as an extra set of aura, except it is only available to vampires and not ordinary hunters and huntresses.

The biologically related Schnee's can wield the ice element whenever they see fit by using zehn. Since this isn't considered normal, sometimes they will slyly use their own ice dust to make it look like they are using dust or their aura instead of zehn.

"Forget it!" Weiss irritably replied.

"You're welcome for the save, _princess_ ," Yang spat out the nickname.

Weiss huffed and crossed her arms. "My bad, let me try again," she cleared her throat and remarked in a sarcastic tone. "Thanks oh so much for saving a helpless victim such as myself you bumbling _brute._ "

The blonde grit her teeth in anger. "What the hell's your-"

"Hey!"

The forced yelp came from Blake. Since she was in public and around humans, she couldn't use her teleportation ability for fear someone would see, thus risking people knowing of the vampire race's existence.

Instead of using teleportation to split the bickering pair, she sprinted over when she heard the yelling.

Blake was very careful not to jostle the new bread in her grip. "Who is this?" she turned to the blonde with a death glare. "Who are you?"

The blood-faunus wasn't comfortable with the situation. From what she could tell, the blonde girl seemed to have a temper.

 _They could both improve on that,_ Blake remarked internally.

"I'm Yang," the blonde introduced. "Your friend here was about to get killed," she pointed to the scowling white-haired girl.

From the information, Blake's eyes widened. "What?!" she faced Weiss, who rolled her eyes in irritation.

"Don't you worry, I saved her in time," Yang reassured.

The pack of beowolves were annihilated. Not a single grimm was in sight. Presently, nothing could harm the peaceful citizens of Vale, and Yang took pride in knowing she was partially responsible for protecting the town. But one of those peaceful citizens didn't seem to take kindly to her.

The still glowering white-haired girl.

"The one time I leave you alone!" Blake irritably exclaimed, her attention fixed on Weiss. "And you tell _me_ to be careful?"

Since Blake's job was to bodyguard her, Weiss understood her frustration. But right now, the annoying blob of yellow set her nerves off more than anything.

That giddy grin…

How could that blonde smile at a time like this!?

Weiss wanted to wipe that grin off her stupid face!

Weiss ignored Blake's comment and sauntered up to Yang. "I told you, I could have handled it far better than your barbaric fists!"

Although she was shorter than the blonde, she had no problem getting closer to her. Weiss' face contorted in anger, allowing her to appear more threatening than she really was.

Yang was surprised such a small girl seemed to want to pick a fight with her. Willing to oblige, she smugly grinned and leered down at the feisty girl.

The blonde held up a fist and raised it slowly to Weiss' face, her tone lowered. "Don't make me use them again."

Blake's ears perked up under the bow from the comment. As her bodyguard, she was supposed to protect her sister. However, if it was possible to avoid a fight, she would.

"Is that a threat?!" Weiss seethed.

Yang got closer to the heiress, using her height as an intimidation tactic as she towered over her. "It's not a threat. It's a promise, _princess_."

Although Weiss felt like she really should fear the girl, the comment only served to piss her off even more.

Blake quickly stepped between the two before things escalated. Weiss' head was basically streaming, so if Blake was going to break it off, she'd have to do it now. She held out her arms and put some much needed space between them so a fight wouldn't break out.

"Look," Blake started, using her bargaining tone. "I don't know what happened, but-"

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!"

The call echoed in the distance. The vampire sisters could easily tell it belonged to a younger female who was rapidly approaching.

"Who is that?!" Weiss exclaimed, her tone suggested the newcomer already annoyed her.

There was a blob of red in the distance. Yang smiled when she noticed her sister's scythe was in its more convenient compact form. That meant she got rid of the beowolves on her side. Her high-pitched chirp told Yang that everything went well and that her sister managed to save any wandering citizens.

Yang waved her arms in the air so her sister could see them clearly.

"Over here, Rubes!"

In no time, the red-caped girl sped up to the group extremely fast. Some rose petals were left in her wake as her cape fluttered in the breeze. Weiss and Blake had to step back from shock. That little girl could cover over a hundred meters in two seconds flat!

However, Yang didn't seem deterred at all from the events and engaged in casual conversation with Ruby.

"Did you finish them off?" Ruby asked her sister, unable to stop grinning.

"Yep!" Yang replied. "You got the rest?"

"Mhm!" Ruby eagerly nodded.

"Wait," Weiss interjected. "Killed what?"

Sure, she encountered one grimm. But wasn't that all there were?

"The beowolves," Ruby informed. "There was a whole pack of them."

 _A whole pack…_ Weiss thought.

It really was strange. One beowolf could have been a fluke, but a whole pack?

In the middle of the city?

That wasn't normal.

That wasn't normal at all.

"What?!" Blake yelped. "When?"

"While you were getting that," Weiss pointed at her bread. "I didn't know there was a whole pack. Are you two huntresses?"

Based on how the blonde fought, Weiss easily figured she was skilled in combat, although her fighting style didn't use proper form. The other, much younger girl could run extremely fast, so she figured that might be the younger girl's semblance.

"Huntresses-to-be," Yang informed. "We're going to be initiated soon."

Ruby practically bounced up and down in delight. "I can't wait!"

 _Huntresses…_ Right then and there, a plan sparked in Weiss' mind. A wry smirk crossed her lips as she scanned the giddy pair of strangers.

The next question came out randomly from Blake, who admittedly, kept staring at them. "Are you sisters?"

Yang was clearly perplexed from the question. She certainly wasn't expecting anyone to guess that based on appearances alone. "Yeah, half-sisters."

"There's more of you?" Weiss asked in annoyance.

Before Yang could snap, Ruby cut in. "You could tell?"

Of course Blake could tell. She had spent her whole life comparing herself to her adoptive family. She knew a thing or two about family dynamics and siblings. Whether they were related or not, Blake could always find similarities and vast differences in behavior and body language.

"Usually people can't tell just by looking," Yang added, glad for a distraction from the annoying glimmer of white.

 _She's so smart,_ Ruby thought as she gawked at Blake in awe.

"It was a lucky guess," the aristocrat shrugged.

If Blake was an expert on one thing, it would be sibling differences. Her and Weiss weren't related by blood, but she of all people knew what it was like to be the black sheep of the family.

Yang and Ruby acted so casual around one another, prompting Blake to believe they were family. The fact that they were half-sisters and looked nothing alike was extremely relatable.

So asking the question was only natural to her.

"I never introduced myself!" Ruby exclaimed. "I'm Ruby."

Now that the introduction was out of the way, Ruby found herself lost in those amber eyes. She wondered where this mysterious girl came from, or when she got here. The black blouse she was wearing complimented her jet-black hair and made her yellow eyes sparkle.

Ruby found herself entranced by them…

 _S-she's so pretty…_ Ruby thought.

"It's a pleasure," Blake deadpanned and ignored Ruby, electing to whisper in Weiss' ear.

Even though Blake didn't seem to want to talk, Ruby couldn't help but stare at the duo. She had never seen anyone like her.

Like them.

Weiss nodded after Blake's whisper. "We have to go," she directed that to the pair of troublesome sisters.

At least she gave them the courtesy of knowing they had to leave. There was almost a fight, so the least Weiss figured she could do was tell them rather than just walk away.

The Schnee sisters pivoted around to calmly take their leave.

Ruby yelled after them as she watched them walk down the street. "Wait! What're your names?!"

Weiss never broke stride and stated with conviction. "None of your business."

Since grimm had invaded a few minutes ago, the town was still silent. Citizens had scampered away and went home or were still hiding inside stores. Because of this, Weiss' comment was heard loud and clear to the pair of sisters, which was followed by rhythmic footsteps.

Weiss and Blake walked home, leaving the pair of confused sisters behind.

Yang and Ruby stood there in relative silence until the blonde broke it. "Man, the princess is rude!"

Ruby kept her eyes on the two as they left her sight. Yang noticed her staring and nudged her in the ribs, which elicited a grunt.

"Let's go Rubes, I gotta blow off some steam after that."

"Y-yeah."

The other pair of sisters left town and went home.

* * *

A few days later, Blake and Weiss walked to their father's workspace in his office with a plan in mind.

What they wanted to do would take some convincing, so they came prepared. They did research before, so they could only hope for the best.

"Father," Weiss called.

The man looked up from his papers. "What is it?"

"We have a request," Weiss stated. "Before freaking out, listen to our reasoning."

"Go on," he leaned back in his chair, interested in what they had to say.

Blake stated the request with conviction. "We'd like to attend Beacon Academy."

After their encounter with Ruby and Yang, the vampire sisters wanted to become huntresses-in-training. It wasn't to be like them; rather, they found a reason to leave the castle they had been isolated in.

It was an opportunity to leave.

"To become huntresses," Weiss clarified. "Now, I know there are some reasons as to why we shouldn't, but we have many more reasons as to why that would benefit us."

Mr. Schnee perked an eyebrow.

This was unexpected.

The daughters knew it would be difficult to convince him. If they were allowed in a school with humans, their race could be exposed since the vampire race was a secret to the public in general.

The blood-faunus grabbed and clicked the remote. This turned on the plasma T.V. screen. Their father leaned in and read the title of their power point:

Why You Should Let Us Get the F*ck Out

He stifled an amused chuckle and looked at the pair, only to see Blake point to Weiss.

"It was her idea."

"Traitor!"

Mr. Schnee waved them off. "Just get on with it."

Weiss cleared her throat. "Right," Blake clicked a button, changing the picture on screen. "'You can't become huntresses, you're vampires for dust's sake!' Is what you're thinking. Well, I'm going to tell you why that's bull."

The aristocrat pointed to the screen. "I drew that," she claimed, very proud of her work.

It was a picture of a poorly made stick figure with fangs biting into another stick figure.

Their pureblood father scoffed, of disappointment or amusement, the daughters couldn't tell.

"You need blood to live!" Weiss went on. "If you let us take a supply of blood tablets, we should be fine for a while."

"Right," Blake nodded. "But we all know blood tablets don't keep us full. They don't satisfy our bodies like actual blood does."

"You won't be there to… provide real blood for us," the heiress acknowledged. "So extra blood bags are an idea."

There were many methods to acquire blood besides taking it from a human and hurting them. The Schnee's had several blood bags in storage thanks to the mother for ironically being a nurse. There were also blood tablets as backup to satisfy their hunger. If the need became desperate enough, their father would go out and do the dirty work, which didn't happen often due to their resources.

"We have plenty in storage," Blake gladly chirped. "We could store them in Beacon's refrigerator."

"Won't people be suspicious if there's blood bags in a refrigerator?" Mr. Schnee asked a decent question.

"I'm glad you asked!" Weiss happily exclaimed. "We'd put them in the infirmary's fridge and no, it wouldn't be suspicious since it's a combat school and a nurse's office."

"Sometimes student's injuries require blood transfers," Blake informed. "Extra supplies shouldn't attract attention."

"If we run out, you can always mail them or use any other method you see fit," Weiss made sure to make the process easier on their father.

"It's a win-win," the blood-faunus chirped. "You might also be thinking: but what about your vampirely urges?"

"That's not even a word," Mr. Schnee scoffed.

"Just go with it," the aristocrat deadpanned.

"That's when you have to have faith in yourself, father," Weiss stated. "You and mother trained us all our lives to handle the scent of blood without giving in to our instincts."

"I'm not trying to suck up or anything, but," Blake said. "I've never seen anyone who has as much control over their senses and urges as you, so I think you can rest easy and place your faith in us."

Blake truly meant every word. When her parents were killed, Mr. Schnee didn't bat an eye at the amount of blood stained in her old home. The blood-faunus herself would have given into her urges if she hadn't been so upset about her parent's deaths that it made her physically sick.

Their pureblood father nodded, and Blake took that as her cue to press the remote.

Weiss opened her mouth while pointing to a picture of fangs on screen. "Your teeth!" she pointed to her daggers and willingly retracted them. "News flash: they can be retracted!"

Mr. Schnee crossed his arms, seemingly unimpressed. "Uh-huh…"

The aristocrat clicked the remote again. This time the picture on screen was of two stick figures with fangs bleeding out on the ground.

"You probably think we're not strong enough," Blake said. "But with aura _and_ zehn, vampires are _more_ than capable of becoming hunters and huntresses. In fact, this makes us more powerful and provides an edge."

"Finally, a decent argument," their father mused.

"Using our strength to help the weak," Weiss said satisfyingly. "It sounds like a nice job…"

Blake took that as her cue to click the remote again. Now the image showed two stick figures with fangs on top of a rock with their fists pumped in the air was on screen.

"I know what you may be thinking…" Weiss continued. "Why become a huntress?"

He nodded, silently agreeing that's exactly what was on his mind.

"To get away," Blake answered. "We're not going to lie, we want to, as the title says, get the fuck out."

Mr. Schnee stared at Weiss and rolled his eyes.

The blood-faunus clicked the remote again. Crayons, showing several stick figures with fangs gathered in one room, colored the image.

"We both had to deal with those vampire parties for years," Weiss said darkly. "I did as you said without thought and talked to hundreds of suitors."

"Sadly," Blake pressed the remote. "They were all douchebags."

This time, a picture of a pale stick figure with fangs was shown kicking another stick figure that had fangs in the balls.

"One of them is undoubtedly sterile now," Weiss said contentedly, proud of what she did to the poor soul.

A smirk formed on Mr. Schnee's face. He was always proud when his daughter stood up for herself.

Blake held back a chuckle and clicked the remote once more. An image of a heart ripped in half was now in view.

"Life here is… unfulfilling," Weiss hesitantly said. "I need purpose to my life. And what a better way to find it than to help humans?"

"You want to help humans?" Mr. Schnee, the pureblood, asked as if he didn't hear her correctly.

"I know they aren't the… smartest things in the world," Weiss stated. "I'm honestly tired of hiding from the world in here. And while we're at Beacon, we'll learn more about humans," she made sure to add.

Their father nodded. "What about you, Blake? Why do you want to go to Beacon and become a huntress?"

"The answer is quite simple," the blood-faunus said as she stared at the man, not breaking eye contact. "I go where she goes."

Weiss gave her a surprised look. She didn't expect that to be her sister's main reason.

Mr. Schnee looked as though he was deep in thought. "Very well."

Weiss tilted her head. "Is that a yes?"

"Yes, both of you may attend Beacon."

* * *

 **Yus! They have finally met! I know what you're thinking:** _ **this**_ **is a freezerburn story? The answer is YES. Just hold your horses. And the ladybug is one-sided… for now. Give this fic the time it needs to develop!**

 **The chapter title doesn't refer to the songs, but it does refer to the summary.**


	8. Rise to the Call

After few days, Ruby and Yang packed up to leave for Beacon. Ruby was throwing all her clothes in her messy suitcase while Yang searched for her favorite shampoo to bring along.

"Yang!" Ruby called from her room after fumbling with the clothes.

"What?!" Yang yelled back through the open bathroom door.

"Wasn't she amazing?" the brunette gushed. "She was so smart and perceptive and quiet and-"

"Rubes," Yang cut her off. "You totally have a crush on her."

Yang knew exactly who her sister referred to.

Ruby couldn't help it. Ever since her encounter in Vale with the mysterious black-haired woman, she couldn't stop thinking about her.

Or talking about her.

It came out like word vomit.

"Psh," Ruby waved off. "No I don't."

"Yes, you do," the blonde strolled out of the bathroom with her shampoo in hand. "It's cute puppy love!"

In Ruby's mind, there was no use arguing with her older sister. Yang would tease her mercilessly until Ruby admitted defeat, so she elected to move the conversation along.

"I don't even know her name or if I'll ever see her again…"

Yang sent her a smile. "You never know! Although I could go the rest of my life without seeing the princess ever again..."

The blonde had spent several hours punching a bag in the gym after that encounter. It still sent chills up her spine when she thought about it. She'd do anything to get the image of that… that scowling albino out of her head.

Yang's comment sparked determination in Ruby's eyes. "You're right! But I don't know, that white-haired girl seemed okay."

"You weren't there in the beginning," Yang said irritably. "Feisty little thing…"

Ruby perked an eyebrow. "You can be feisty sometimes, too."

Yang almost sounded offended. "Am not."

"Are too!"

"Am not."

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Yang!" Ruby scolded. "That's the argument of a five-year old!"

The blonde genuinely laughed and uttered under her breath. "Says you…"

"What?" Ruby asked, needing clarification.

"What?" Yang pretended like she didn't know what she was talking about.

Ruby playfully rolled her eyes and the two tugged their suitcases. After doing so, they grabbed the handles and brought them into the living room to make leaving their home much easier. However, they couldn't leave without saying goodbye to a special someone first.

"Hey kiddos!"

It didn't take long for their concerned father to greet them.

Taiyang pulled them in for a hug, knowing it would be the last one with his family in a while. "Are you ready to be initiated at Beacon?"

The sisters leaned into the embrace that was filled with warmth. If there was one thing Taiyang was an expert at, it was hugs.

A smile grazed their lips as the sisters tightened the embrace.

"Hell yes," Yang said calmly and sweetly. "I can't wait to use these babies," she then tapped her dad on the back with the hard piece of metal around both of her arms- Ember Celica.

"Crescent Rose will be amazing!" Ruby chirped with glee.

"No," Taiyang gazed in her silver eyes. " _You_ will be amazing," he gently ruffled her already messy hair.

Ruby accepted it like a puppy and kept smiling. Her father usually did that gesture when he wouldn't see them for long periods of time. He was allowed to do that to Ruby, but messing with Yang's hair was out of the question.

"Still," Ruby said. "I can't do it without my sweetheart."

Taiyang smiled. "Are you finished packing?"

Yang looked back at their stuffed suitcases. "Yep!"

They were sad to leave so soon.

But the sisters were ready more than anything.

"Great!" he exclaimed. "Before you go, video chat Qrow. He hasn't seen you two in a while and wants to say goodbye."

"That doesn't sound like him," Yang added suspiciously, perking an eyebrow for emphasis.

"Believe it or not, he cares. I'll leave to give you some privacy," Taiyang said as he walked into the kitchen.

Ruby and Yang were left alone in the living with their suitcases. Ruby took out her scroll and dialed her uncle's number, secretly wondering when Qrow got a somewhat caring bone in his body. There was no doubt Qrow loved his family, but it wasn't like him to actually show gestures of affection.

Those were considered rare.

Qrow had other more important things to worry about rather than showing his family he cared about them.

Especially since they _know_ he cares. He simply didn't like to show it. He was stubborn like that.

The sisters made themselves comfortable on the couch, patiently waiting for Qrow to pick up the phone.

"Yeah?" their uncle asked in annoyance.

"Is this a bad time?" Yang asked in exasperation.

Ruby sighed. "You're the one that wanted to video chat us."

Qrow's stern features softened from the comment. He was definitely irritated at first, but now he seemed more guilty than anything.

The last thing they were expecting was attitude from the person who wanted to call them in the first place.

Maybe they did call at a bad time?

"You're right, you're right!" Qrow surrendered. "Are you two ready for Beacon?"

The blonde looked at Ruby with certainty and then Qrow. "More than ready."

"I'm glad," Qrow replied curtly.

From Yang's tone, Qrow deduced there was nothing to worry about. His family, who were also his students, had exceeded well-enough in Signal Academy and Beacon was the next step. If the sisters were going to take the leap of faith in life, now would be the time to do it.

"How's the super secret mission going?" Ruby couldn't help but ask. She still didn't know what he was up to. Hell, she didn't know what was so important he left his old teaching job for.

"It's…" Qrow seemed to be deep in thought, then a smile curved his lips. "Something else."

Yang shrugged. "As long as it's not bad." Seeing Qrow smile genuinely wasn't common, so if the job actually made him _smile_ , then Yang was just happy he was happy.

Qrow smirked. "I wouldn't call it that. It's definitely not bad. I'd call it amusing."

Before Ruby and Yang could ask for more details, they heard a female's voice yell at Qrow:

"Qrow! Come say goodbye to them!"

Their professional hunter was annoyed and shouted back at the person the sisters couldn't see. "I'm coming!" he faced the duo in a rush. "Sorry, I have to go."

Yang tilted her head. "Who was that-"

Before she could finish the question, Qrow had ended the call.

"Aw," Ruby pouted. "That was weird."

"You think Qrow found someone?" Yang asked hopefully. "You know, not one of those chicks from the bar, but someone he _actually_ cares about?"

Maybe the female that yelled at him was the reason for his earlier grin?

"We can only hope," Ruby absentmindedly replied. She had a lot going on in her life right now, so thinking about her uncle's secret life wasn't exactly her top priority. Still, if Qrow found someone, she'd be extremely happy for him.

After the video call, their time to leave was fastly approaching. The sisters gathered their suitcases before giving their dad a goodbye kiss. Then they heard the pattering of paws accompanied by a bark.

"Aw Zwei!" Ruby bent down to peck him on the head. "We're gonna miss you."

Zwei yipped once, his beady gray eyes conveyed a tint of sadness.

Yang joined her sister and kissed him in between his broad ears. "Sorry to leave ya, bud. You got dad to keep you company though."

"That's right," Taiyang agreed.

"Arf!"

Zwei hopped up and licked both of the sister's faces, his stubby tail wagging. After one final pat, Ruby and Yang hugged their dad again.

Before Yang could shut the door, Taiyang yelled.

"Don't do anything stupid!"

"I'll make sure Rubes doesn't," Yang teased.

"I was talking to you, Yang," their dad replied.

Ruby couldn't help but giggle.

* * *

Weiss and Blake's mother clasped her hands together in preparation to explain some pointers before heading to Beacon.

Mrs. Schnee was almost the spitting image of Weiss. Her hair was as white as snow, but reached just to her shoulders in a bob. The two shared the same azure eyes while the mother was considered an above average height around 5'7.

Their father was clean cut and his white hair was usually gelled back neatly if he had an important meeting. When he was casual, some tufts of his hair stuck up a bit like he was just another normal person. He had a bulky build and broad shoulders, definitely not someone to be trifled with.

The pureblood parents looked like they were in their late twenties or early thirties, certainly not as old as they actually were.

She and her husband looked young for being alive for so long.

It was one of the benefits of being a pureblood.

"We all know vampires can't taste real food properly, well, besides bread and soup," the female pureblood said.

"Uh... bread," Weiss couldn't help but complain. "It's nothing but carbs. Honestly, of all things we could taste, why did it have to be _bread?"_

"I know, it sucks," Mrs. Schnee agreed. "But it's also good. When you're with friends you can eat bread and soup, and if-"

"-If there's none available just say you're not hungry," Blake finished like she's heard it a million times before. "And if you are forced to eat any other food besides soup and bread, make it come back up later."

"Right, good job hun," Mrs. Schnee praised. "Any food besides bread, soup and blood can be harmful to your body, so make sure it's out of your system."

Weiss wanted to personally beat the crap out of her own taste buds sometimes. Human food sure looked good.

"We'll avoid them at all costs," Weiss reassured. "Other foods taste like garbage anyways."

"That's an understatement," the blood-faunus scoffed. "It's like eating throw up…"

"Agreed," their mother nodded. "Now, what about-"

"From a dumpster…" the aristocrat couldn't help but mutter. "That some rabid animal coughed up on top of rat feces-"

"We get it," their mom cut her off. "It tastes like satan personally crawled up from the depths of hell and shit on your plate," she held her chin in thought. "Now… is there anything else we should cover…"

Weiss felt like those descriptions didn't do the appalling taste justice. "It's more bitter than animal blood!"

Blake and Mrs. Schnee had to hold back their gagging. Animal blood was the most bitter blood vampires could drink.

"Ok, ok," Mrs. Schnee said. "We get it. Other foods taste like garbage. Now, did I forget anything to say…?"

"Mom," Weiss called. "I think we're set."

Mrs. Schnee sighed and pulled in her two daughters in for a hug. "You know how much I worry. Just promise me you'll be careful."

Blake pulled back to meet her blue gaze. "That goes without saying."

Their mother sniffed and wiped her watery eyes. "Good. Keep us updated. Your father and Winter will also certainly be interested."

"Will do," Weiss nodded.

After breaking apart and kissing their mother on the cheek, Blake and Weiss left the room. They searched for one person in particular before they actually left the mansion.

The blood-faunus opened a set of double doors and was surprised to see Winter's bodyguard leave the room while frantically checking his scroll.

"Hey Weiss, Blake," Qrow greeted as he left the room and entered the hallway.

The vampire sisters nodded in acknowledgement since he seemed too busy to chat. After that, they entered Winter's study. They were pleasantly greeted by their older sister when she tore her gaze away from papers that required her attention.

"Are you leaving for Beacon soon?"

"Yeah," the aristocrat nodded. "We leave in a few minutes."

"Yes… well," Winter got up from her chair at her desk. "When you get to Beacon, keep your head up, okay? You will both be fine. No matter what happens, you have each other."

Blake and Weiss were surprised that their sister practically crushed their ribs in a hug.

"I'll miss you," Winter sweetly breathed, directing that to both of them.

"We'll miss you too," they replied in unison.

"Take care of each other," Winter advised. "And if anything happens, please call me. You'd be surprised how much help I can be."

Weiss laughed from the comment when she thought back to how many times her sister had tried to help her with summoning.

That was an understatement.

"Qrow!" Winter suddenly shouted.

Blake had to cover her ears from the yell, to which Winter apologized. "Sorry about that. I'll go get him."

Winter almost forgot Blake had more sensitive hearing than her. After living with Blake for so long, Winter had grown accustomed to seeing Blake as a more similar being to herself rather than seeing the differences between them. There was a lot to compare and contrast, but those differences and similarities could be a good thing.

Winter opened the doors and the two younger siblings followed, curious as to what the eldest was doing.

"Qrow!" Winter irritably called. "Come say goodbye to them!"

"I'm coming!" the man shouted back in annoyance.

Winter saw him talking to his phone, surprised he looked apologetic. The professional hunter then stuffed his phone in his pocket, a faint glower present.

When Qrow walked over, he asked. "What is it, ice queen?"

"Weiss and Blake are about to leave for Beacon."

"Beacon, huh?" Qrow held his chin in thought, obviously amused. "This'll be interesting…"

"What?" Winter asked.

Qrow quickly replied. "Nothing."

The blood-faunus stepped forward. "Goodbye, Qrow. Weiss and I are leaving soon."

"Bye kiddos," Qrow rubbed the younger siblings on the head.

Blake accepted the action while Weiss tried to swat his hand away. The action almost made her tiara fall off, so she was reluctant from the contact.

"We'll keep everyone updated," Weiss informed while slightly adjusting the tiara.

Qrow's signature smirk made itself known. "Please do…"

* * *

 **Winter's line: "When you get to Beacon, keep your head up, okay? You will both be fine," is a reference to one of the main two songs: X.U.**

" **Just keep your head up and you'll do fine."**

 **The chapter title is named after the lyrics (from the same song): "Our fragile, precious world I'll protect it and 'rise to the call.'" Once again, both quotes/lyrics make sense in relation to the story. Hey, hey... pssssst... that's a hint to... LISTEN TO THE SONGS IF YOU HAVEN'T. The songs are listed at the end of the first chapter. Thanks :)**

 **Next chapter: Beacon Academy**


	9. Beacon Academy

"...You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take this first step."

The headmaster turned around and walked off the stage with his cane, leaving the audience in relative silence. Glynda soon followed with her clipboard in hand.

The girls had arrived at Beacon for initiation. Headmaster Ozpin had called the first-years to gather in the meeting room before it started.

"Well, that was a thing," a random person chirped in the dead silence.

Weiss narrowed her eyes in annoyance because someone had the nerve to speak up. Now that she thought about it, that voice sounded familiar…

Naturally, Weiss faced the direction of the voice and stifled a gasp when she saw a signature wild blonde mane.

The heiress gently nudged Blake in the ribs, which elicited a grunt. "What?"

"It's her," Weiss whispered and subtly pointed across the room. "She's the one we ran into in Vale."

Needing to see the blonde for herself, Blake frantically searched the crowd. It wasn't hard to find the bright glimmer of yellow. "It's that girl!"

"Yeah," Weiss harshly whispered. "The _brute._ "

From her sister's tone, Blake gathered her vampire sister still wasn't fond of the blonde they met. She couldn't blame her, especially after how much the two argued.

The blood-faunus didn't take kindly to anyone that threatened her sister, so the blonde wasn't exactly at the top of her friends list.

"Wait," Blake nudged Weiss and tilted her head to the side discretely. "Her sister is here, too."

Weiss scoffed and crossed her arms as she examined the brunette that was standing next to the blonde. "She looks far too young to be here."

Blake silently agreed with that statement when she watched the brunette giddily jump up and down like a two year old would be excited to get candy.

"That's not our problem," Blake reminded. "Let's just avoid them. I'd rather not have that blonde punch you in the face."

"Hm," Weiss huffed. "I could take her."

Blake had to hold back a laugh when she thought about her sister attempting to fight the brute. She decided to agree to make her feel better. "I'm sure you could."

"I could!"

Even though the blonde seemed to have a lot of firepower, Weiss definitely lacked in that aspect. Sure, vampires had an extra set of aura, called zehn, but that didn't mean a fight would be an automatic win for a vampire.

The blood-faunus grabbed her hand. "Let's not find out," she was about to drag her out of the room, but a random blond boy stopped the two with a pick-up line.

"Hello there, snow angel," the boy greeted with a wiggle of a brow.

From the nickname, the aristocrat stepped to the side, knowing exactly who he was referring to.

Weiss stifled a groan. "What do you want?"

In the past, so many people had tried to use pick-up lines on her. By this point, they had just grown to irritate Weiss.

The blond boy was surprised from her snarky tone, but dismissed it and tried to look confident. Like a gentleman, he held out his hand to introduce himself. "I'm Jaune. Jaune Arc, it's a pleasure to meet you."

The heiress couldn't help but think back to her interaction with that damned pureblood. He introduced himself the same way, but she couldn't sense any lust in his tone. In fact, this boy seemed like a nervous wreck trying to cover that up with confidence.

Weiss hesitantly used her fingers to shake his hand, seemingly in disgust. He was just lucky she was touching him in the first place. "Arc," she mused. "Tell me, what's your grandfather's name?"

"Oh uh," Jaune sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "He's dead."

"Let me rephrase that," Weiss stated, conveying a little annoyance. "What _was_ your grandfather's name?"

"Eldir," the boy replied easily. "Eldir Arc."

 _So that's where he's from,_ Weiss pondered. _A family of idiots._

Weiss thought back to when she walked in on Blake reading a book about weaknesses of vampires. She held a grudge against anyone that believed those stupid myths in general, so to read a whole book about it…

She burned Eldir Arc's name in her brain without conscious effort.

Not needing to know anything else about the boy, Weiss pivoted on her heel to walk away. Blake followed with a smirk, knowing exactly why her sister shut him down.

"H-hey!" Jaune called.

But the vampire sisters never broke their stride to respond to his yelp, and before Jaune knew it, the two were down the hallway and out of sight.

Jaune lowered his head and muttered under his breath in a defeated tone. "Was it something I said?"

"Hey Jaune!" a brunette put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Woah, why're you so bummed out?"

Jaune lifted his head to face the girl. "It's nothing, Ruby. Just rejected by the resident ice queen."

"Aw I'm sorry," Ruby said with sympathy. "I think you're pretty awesome! If that helps…"

The boy sighed. "A little bit."

"Rubes, Jaune!" Yang called as she ran up to the pair. "What's up?"

Jaune was about to answer, but Ruby beat him to it. "He got rejected."

"Yikes," the blonde cringed. "How'd that go?"

"I introduced myself like a gentleman," Jaune answered. "Then she asked what my grandfather's name was for some strange reason. When I told her she just walked away!"

Clearly, he was a little irritated, but more heartbroken than anything. The white-haired girl didn't even engage in a normal conversation with him thoroughly.

"That's a little harsh," Yang commented. "Maybe there's a family feud. Did ya catch her name?"

"No," Jaune sighed. "That's all we talked about before she left."

"Huh…" Yang mused. "That's a bitchy thing to do."

"I know what'll cheer you up!" the last thing Ruby wanted was her new friend to be sad. "Ice cream!"

"I'm not a five year old, Ruby!"

Knowing Jaune needed _something_ to feel better, Ruby ignored his pleas.

"Let's go!" Ruby forcefully grabbed his arm and headed to the exit.

Yang followed the two as they left Beacon to get some ice cream from a local parlor despite the boy's pleas.

* * *

That night, the first-years were required to sleep in the same meeting room they were in earlier. Yang and Ruby rolled out their sleeping bags on the floor to get ready for bed.

Students were lying down all around them in relative silence since it was later in the night. Ruby was having trouble falling asleep so she whispered to Yang. Understandably, there was a lot on her mind right now. If anyone could ease Ruby's nerves, it would be her older sister.

"What if I don't make any friends?" Ruby asked.

"Ruby," Yang's tone was serious. "You're friends with vomit-boy. You're already making great progress."

Ruby crashed down on her sleeping bag, seemingly in defeat with a sigh. "Yeah but… it's Jaune. I'm pretty sure he doesn't count."

The blonde softly laughed, not wanting to wake the people around them. "He counts. Don't worry so much about it, okay?" Yang flipped on her side to face her little sister, her own eyes prodding into Ruby's. "You're doing great so far."

"Uh," Ruby whined. "I guess you're kinda right..." the only reason she gave in was because she sensed Yang was being sincere. When Yang was sincere, she was _sincere._ So in reality, there was no point in arguing.

After lying down in relative silence for a few minutes, Ruby just couldn't relax, even after Yang's pep talk. She became restless and sat up in her sleeping bag. "I'm gonna wash my face in the bathroom. Wanna come with?"

"No thanks," Yang replied. "I'm gonna sleep."

"Okay," Ruby whispered. "Be right back."

It was easy to find the ladies' room. While Ruby was at it, she used the restroom and shuffled over to the sink in her slippers. As she threw water gently on her face, the bathroom door creaked open. The brunette jumped in surprise and let out a squeal from the unexpected noise.

"I'm sorry," the girl apologized. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Once Ruby rubbed off the water on her face, she got a view of the person. "Y-you're-"

She recognized the girl all too well. The black-haired girl had been the center of her thoughts ever since their encounter in Vale. Ruby couldn't get the cute bow or amber orbs out of her head, either.

 _Oh my gosh! She's HERE! Of all places?! Why's she here?! Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh-_

"You," the black-haired girl acknowledged in a lowered tone, her eyes narrowed. "I didn't know you were talking about _this_ academy."

"Y-yeah," Ruby replied, trying to ignore the fact that the girl seemed a tad annoyed. Ruby justified in her mind it was just because this encounter in the _bathroom_ was unexpected. "I was. I didn't know you're a huntress!"

"I'm not," the blood-faunus said. "Not yet."

Ruby gulped, none of them were official huntresses quite yet. The girl was right. However, Ruby couldn't help but notice the black-haired girl's stunning poker face and completely forgot about the conversation.

 _How's she so pretty?_ Ruby internally gushed. _Fate, if you're listening, thank you! Come on! Compliment her. Say something nice._

Ruby caught herself staring and more or less blurted the question. "W-what's your name?"

"Blake," said girl replied curtly.

With effort, Ruby engraved the name in her mind. It was finally nice to know the girl's name. Especially since Blake had taken a good chunk of Ruby's thoughts these last few days.

 _Compliment something…_ Ruby thought. _But her whole body needs to be complimented!_

"H-hey Blake, I'm Ruby!" she tried to look confident.

"Nice to meet you again," Blake said in a monotone voice, seemingly uninterested. "Maybe we'll see each other around," she opened the door to leave the bathroom. Seeing Ruby made her forget what she was doing there in the first place.

"W-wait!" Ruby yelled.

 _Say she has pretty hair!_ Ruby thought.

Blake held the door open to hear what she had to say.

"You're really great at walking!" she blurted.

 _What the HECK brain?! That's not what I wanted to say!_

"Um…" the aristocrat mumbled. "Thanks?" she proceeded to take her leave and let the door shut.

Ruby leaned over the sink and her head dropped in shame, smacking it repeatedly against the edge.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!"

* * *

The next morning, the first-years lined up on the launching pads on the cliff that faced the Emerald Forest. Blake and Weiss had claimed spots next to each other on one end while Yang and Ruby were on the opposite side of the line-up.

The students looked to Ozpin for guidance.

"There are logical ways to pick partners. With that being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

Some student's will's were visibly shattered from the statement. Weiss and Blake made mental notes to try to land as close to each other as possible.

"This is an overnight initiation. You will collect one chess piece per pair from the temple. You will then keep track of that chess piece and survive for one night with your new partner," Ozpin continued to explain.

Yang smirked from the information. She pulled out her sunglasses and set them over her eyes for the ride. This should be a breeze.

"For years you have trained to become warriors, and for the next several hours, your abilities will be evaluated."

"YEAH!" a hyperactive girl with orange hair cheered. "Let's do this!"

Ozpin smiled at the girl's cheeriness. "Good luck."

The vampire sisters took a mental note that they'd be watched…

* * *

 **Yes, this is an OVERNIGHT initiation. Don't worry, it's different from canon. Nothing irks me more than writing what happened on the show -_-**

 **To show Weiss and Blake's similarities as siblings, I had Blake say Weiss' partial line from canon: "I'm not… Not yet." The real line was "I'm not perfect… Not yet." But you get the point. It was just to show how living with the Schnee's has influenced Blake immensely in this fic. Whether she likes it or not, she shares some of the same idiosyncrasies because she has lived with her adoptive family for so long.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	10. Overnight Initiation: Hya!

Blake was the last to shoot off the launching pad like a rocket. She saw the general direction where Weiss landed, so she tried to angle herself that way. Unfortunately, her mind was distracted and her thoughts went back to how to find Weiss. She pondered long enough to cause a slight misstep before being fired in the air.

Her body veered away from the area she wanted to land in.

 _Crap!_ the aristocrat thought as she soared through the air.

To make up for her mistake, her focused golden eyes honed in on the area where Weiss had successfully landed. The wind whipped through Blake's jet-black hair as she entangled Gambol Shroud around the nearest tree.

After twisting around the stable tree, she landed a little roughly, with being pushed forward due to the extra momentum.

Blake caught her breath and looked to the sky, not surprised to see a few startled birds fly out of their nests from the same tree she had scraped down.

There was an urge to shoot them, but she got a closer look and realized they were just normal birds. Not tiny nevermores that would grow up to wreak havoc.

After shaking her head, she focused on the situation at hand. _I need to find Weiss!_

With that, she darted deeper into the forest. Her cat ears were perked up and alert for any predators. Even though Weiss was her priority, she still needed to watch for her own surroundings sometimes. She justified in her mind it was okay since she was alone for now.

After a few minutes of searching, she was surprised that she hadn't run into any grimm, or heard any suspicious noises for that matter. The blood-faunus shrugged it off and considered herself lucky, although it was a bit odd.

Once she was certain she was in the spot where her sister landed, she called out to her.

Blake cupped her mouth. "Weiss!" she continued to walk through the forest slowly, also alert for her surroundings. "Weiss! Where are you?!"

The only answer she received were the birds' soft chirping.

 _Damn,_ Blake cursed. _Okay, think. If I was Weiss, where would I go?_

The blood-faunus held her chin in thought and turned around to face where she came. _I'd go find me, right? But why didn't we cross paths? Wait, I'd like to feel tall-_

She snapped out of her thoughts there was a loud thump from behind. Thinking it was her sister fighting off grimm, she pivoted on her heel and bolted to the noise.

A loud bang reverberated in the air, which prompted Blake to sprint faster. After smacking several tree branches out of her path, she saw a giant ursa take a swing at something...

"Hya!" someone yelped as they sucker punched the ursa in the face.

Blake narrowed her eyes at the display as she tried to get a view of the person brawling with the grimm. Weiss definitely didn't grunt like that, so Blake's nerves were eased. Her sister was most likely not in danger, but Blake was still faced with a predicament.

She could ignore the scene and look for her sister, or help the student.

Still, she didn't know if it actually wasn't her sister… it couldn't hurt to steal a glance.

On the other hand, the blood-faunus knew she was being watched. If she didn't help the unknown person, she'd look like a heartless student.

And she didn't want to be on their headmaster's bad side, even though he seemed like an idiot.

Seriously? Who uses this method to assign partners like that?

After making her decision, the aristocrat shot her katana in the ursa's back after the mysterious person punched it a few times. This made the grimm howl in pain as it fell forward from the crushing blow. The unknown person gasped in surprise and rolled to the side to avoid the falling and now dissipating corpse.

Lilac eyes clashed with amber.

 _Nope,_ Blake realized she made a horrible mistake. She turned around to walk away. _Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope._

The blonde ran after her. "Hey, wait up! We're partners!"

Blake stopped in her tracks and cringed at the chain of events. _I should have ignored her. She could've handled it!_

It didn't take long for the blonde to catch up to Blake. The blood-faunus was surprised to see the girl had an ear-to-ear grin.

"Looks like we're partners! Uh…"

"Blake," said girl deadpanned.

The blonde held out her hand. "I'm Yang, Yang Xiao Long. You don't know Xiao Long I've wanted to meet you again!"

The blood-faunus resisted the urge to roll her eyes from the awful pun. "I remember the name," she stated as she thought back to that day in Vale. "You're the one that threatened to punch Weiss."

"Weiss?" Yang tilted her head from the information. "So that's the princess' name!"

"Yes," Blake answered.

 _After all this time I finally know both of their names,_ Yang thought. _Maybe I can use this as an opportunity to make up with Weiss... I don't like bad blood, maybe we just got off on the wrong foot. I bet Blake can help me out. Might as well get on her good side..._

"Oh, I forgot to thank you for helping me," Yang chirped. "So thanks for the help! Even though I could'a taken 'em."

 _Damn right you could have,_ the aristocrat internally thought. She was still salty about not getting her sister as her partner. _She could be in danger!_

In full bodyguard mode, Blake almost sprinted off again. Yang, however, grabbed her arm and stopped her in her tracks.

"Where are you going?"

Yang was confused to say the least. Was her new partner planning to ditch her in a grimm infested forest?

"I need to find her," Blake murmured, not liking the physical contact one bit.

Yang's hand was forcefully yanked away. Maybe that crossed the line, but Yang was just glad Blake didn't seem to want to ditch her anymore. "Find who?"

"Weiss."

"Oh," the blonde muttered. "She must be important to you, huh?"

"Very," Blake curtly replied. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to go find her."

"Don't worry about her so much," Yang waved off. "She's a feisty little thing. Trust me, I'd know."

The aristocrat rolled her eyes and began to walk away. Yang quickly joined her and the two partners trekked through the dense, silent forest.

"You know…" Yang started, breaking the comfortable silence. "I bet she's looking for the temple. That's where we have to go anyways."

"So you're saying you want to look for the temple instead?" Blake asked, her tone suggesting she wasn't about to let that happen.

"No," the blonde said. "I'm saying that if we get there we might find both the chess piece and her. You gotta admit, it's a smart move."

 _It is,_ Blake thought. _Besides finding somewhere to get a vantage point, I bet she'd head for the temple in order to pass initiation. There's no way she'd let a partner allow her to fail._

Blake started walking in the direction where she thought the temple was located. Unsurprisingly, Yang quickly followed her new partner like she had been tugged along.

Greeted by silence, Yang began again. "What do you think?" the change of direction made the blonde think Blake may have thought it was a decent idea.

"It's a good idea," Blake agreed. "I didn't expect that from you."

Yang's lilac eyes narrowed, almost offended. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I just pegged you as someone who uses her fists over brains," the blood-faunus answered truthfully. Yang seemed to understand the comment, but was also noticeably hurt. Blake continued before her partner could feel too bad. "Turns out I was wrong."

Yang faintly chuckled. "Damn right…"

The aristocrat allowed herself to smile at her partner.

Just this once.

Yang returned the grin full force. "What's your relationship with the princess anyways? You seem close, so I'm curious."

The white-haired girl had invaded Yang's thoughts a lot recently, so she wanted answers to her questions. Yang was still a bit mad at the feisty girl, but she also felt a little guilty for being on bad terms with her.

It didn't take Blake long to ponder the question. "Our relationship is complicated."

Yang sensed that she didn't want to say anymore and didn't want to press for information. "I get that. Rubes and I are half-sisters, so it's difficult to explain the situation to people."

Blake nodded thoughtfully, her amber eyes suggested that she agreed completely with what her partner said.

It took a few minutes, but soon enough, the two emerged from the tree line cover. After they jumped on top of some boulders lodged in the side of a small cliff, they saw some ancient grey rocks piled up in the distance.

"You think that's it?" Yang asked.

The aristocrat just gave her a look before she nimbly jumped off the small cliff.

"You could just say 'yes,'" the blonde mumbled before following her partner.

The two gathered in the area, their facial expressions curious but cautious. Yang searched around for the chess pieces while Blake frantically looked for a glimmer of white.

 _She's not here yet…_ Blake thought in disappointment.

Yang eventually found the chess pieces that were propped up on some rocks like they had been waiting for their arrival. Each one practically screamed to be picked.

"We beat everyone here," Yang observed after she noticed not a single chess piece was taken. "We can wait here for Weiss if you want?"

Blake took a seat on the grass, her ears alert for the slightest sound. She was too worried about her sister to notice Yang's question.

Thinking that was a 'yes,' Yang stared at Blake before returning her attention to the pieces. "Hey!" she exclaimed, making sure her partner could hear her. "Which one do you want to take?" she gestured to all the pieces.

Blake only spared her a glance and replied in an uninterested voice. "I honestly don't care."

The blonde picked up a chess piece that looked like a horse head. "How about a cute little pony?"

"Sure," Blake focused her full attention on the forest and even the slightest of sounds.

A few minutes went by in relative silence. Blake was sure her partner would talk a lot, but Yang seemed to respect her personal space and elected to fiddle with the new chess piece. Now Blake's mind started to wander. She hadn't noticed, but it was getting dark outside. Blake tilted her head up to face the sky, surprised to see that the sun was almost setting.

 _Time went by that quickly?_

Suddenly, some giant trees violently tore out of their roots and fell to the ground in a domino effect followed a loud bang. Blake and Yang immediately got their weapons ready and in their respective battle stances.

Soon after, a redheaded person neither had seen before tumbled out of the tree line. After the agile somersault the student demonstrated, she got back on her feet and continued to dash across the forest floor.

A giant deathstalker scampered out of the tree line after the student. The grimm was dangerously close to the red-head and it shrieked at its target. The beast's claws thumped on the grass, causing the ground to shake.

Seeing the redhead student was in dire need of help, Yang used the recoil on Ember Celica to fly at the deathstalker.

Yang successfully stopped the grimm in its tracks when she used the bullets in her weapon to temporarily stun the beast in one of its multiple red eyes. The beast flailed its claws and shrieked in pain. Yang took that as her cue to finish it off, and she was about to use her right hook to punch the same damaged eye, but the grimm regained its composure more quickly than she anticipated. Without warning, the beast lunged its poisonous yellow tail at Yang.

The blonde raised her arms in an attempt to block the hit. However, she knew one jab from its poisonous stinger meant fatal injury or even death.

 _Shit!_ she cursed herself and squeezed her eyes shut.

Instead of the harsh impact and pain she expected, there was a rush of air followed by what sounded like shards piercing through the deathstalker's armor. Yang also felt a sudden chill crawl up her spine and she was shocked that her body was unharmed after a few crucial moments.

Yang dared opened her eyes and saw the familiar white-haired girl with her rapier held up in a defensive position. Her head slowly turned around and her azure orbs met the blonde's lilac gaze.

"It seems our roles have reversed."

* * *

 **This may be a freezerburn/ladybug story, but fret not, Yang and Blake are still partners!**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	11. Overnight Initiation: Look Out!

**Surprise early chapter! I'm posting two chapters a week until the Overnight Initiation Arc is finished! There will still be one posted on Saturday, there will** _ **always**_ **be one on Saturday unless something unexpected comes up. For now there are two chapters a week until the Overnight Initiation Arc is over! (It won't take too long)**

* * *

Weiss soared through the air after being launched off the cliff from the catapult. With the flick of her wrist, she summoned several glyphs to lower herself closer to the ground. Her landing strategy was nothing short of simple when she used her semblance.

The heiress landed perfectly and immediately scanned her surroundings for threats.

After whipping her head around to get familiar with the forest, she realized she wasn't getting anywhere.

Initiation was just beginning, so she needed to make the most of her time.

 _Higher ground,_ she nodded to herself. _I need to find Blake._

Weiss remembered she saw some cliffs back when she was still gliding in the air. With a plan in mind, she headed to the general direction of where the cliffs were located. After walking around the forest for a few minutes, she was rewarded with a large mountain not too far from her.

 _Perfect!_

She decided to use her glyphs to propel herself forward in order to move faster.

The faster she could find her sister, the better.

Around five minutes later, she finally made it to the top of the mountain with the excessive use of her glyphs. Weiss knelt over with her hands on her knees in an attempt to catch her breath.

After she regained her composure and controlled her heavy breathing, she was finally able to glance around.

With her new view, the whole forest was scoured in trees.

 _No shit,_ Weiss thought. _It's a forest, what'd I expect?_

In the distance, she could make out a person dressed in green who was fighting what seemed to be a king taijitu.

 _Looks like he wasn't so lucky._

The heiress had managed to avoid grimm so far. She considered herself lucky, but the other student certainly wasn't.

The random student chopped off one of the beast's heads. Weiss found herself wondering if she should go help the student, but decided to watch instead.

They were too far away from each other. Activating her semblance again after excessively using it would just be stupid. Plus, the grimm the student was fighting was almost half-dead as she watched the student slash it to pieces. She would only be in the way if she broke his concentration.

 _They'll be fine,_ she thought. _They're too far away and I don't want to be their partner anyways,_ she squinted to try to determine if the student was a male or female, but the distance was just too much to tell the difference.

While sighing, Weiss shook her head to get back to the task at hand.

 _I need to find Blake before-_

"LOOK OUT!"

Before she could finish her thoughts, someone or _something_ crashed in the ground beside her with a harsh thump.

Weiss jumped back in surprise, shocked to see a blob of red sticking out of the dirt. Actually, she couldn't make out if it was red or brown because of the sheer amount of dust and dirt now clouding the air.

"Owwwww," the person rubbed the back of their head.

Weiss couldn't help but stare at the display. Her jaw dropped as she tried to process the events.

Did that person just come from the sky?

The ground was utterly obliterated from the impact. Grass and dirt from the forest floor stuck up from where a new dent in Remnant was formed. Curiosity getting the best of the heiress, she hovered over the newly formed hole in an attempt to see the person who had the nerve to crash land and almost _kill_ her.

There was just too much debris for Weiss to tell who it was.

But one thing was for certain, the student's warning call sounded very feminine.

After the dust settled, the blob of red finally rose up after the crunching blow with her eyes squeezed shut. "Ow…" she groaned.

"Um…" the heiress mumbled. "How could you mess up a landing strategy? You almost killed me!"

The student stumbled out of the hole while muttering under her breath. There was a sudden breeze, and that caused the fabric on the random student's back to flow a bit.

The heiress continued the chiding even though deep down, she knew the red clothing was familiar.

"It's probably the easiest thing to do for initiation!"

"Ehehe," the girl giggled nervously. "I hit a bird before landing. It kinda messed up the whole thing."

 _That voice,_ Weiss thought. _It sounds familiar…_

The student who almost killed her during her grand entrance finally opened her eyes as she turned around to face the infuriated heiress.

Silver eyes met azure.

Weiss cursed under her breath.

 _There goes the idea of Blake and I being partners. And to make things worse… it's her._

"You're the girl we met in Vale," Weiss recalled.

 _Not only that,_ Weiss' eyes narrowed. _She's the brute's sister._

This whole situation was like a kick to the gut. Of _course_ this would happen to her. Weiss finally convinced her father to allow her, to allow them, to leave that prison of a castle, and now she was stuck with this… this child.

She couldn't catch a break.

"I'm Ruby!" said girl introduced excitedly. The way she presented herself didn't help Weiss' opinion of her change in the slightest. "I met Blake last night in the bathroom, so I figured you were here too."

"The bathroom?" Weiss cocked her head in confusion. "What were you two doing in the bathroom?"

It was odd that Blake never mentioned the incident. Maybe she thought it was so small it wasn't even worth mentioning?

"Ehehehe," Ruby couldn't help but chuckle at the question.

Weiss gave her a glare. "Don't answer that."

"I never caught your name," Ruby realized. "What is it?"

"Weiss," said girl answered.

She figured it was no use keeping it a secret any longer.

No matter how she looked at it...

No matter how much she didn't want to be…

They were partners.

Might as well learn a little about each other, so Weiss asked the question that had been bothering her since she saw Ruby in Beacon.

"Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?"

"I moved forward two grades," Ruby replied. "You could say I'm a genius," she pointed to herself proudly.

 _She certainly doesn't look like it,_ Weiss thought. _Still, looks can be deceiving. Although in her case…_

Ruby couldn't lose that goofy grin of hers and rocked on her heels back and forth. This reminded Weiss of something a child would do if they were bored or just couldn't sit still.

… _I highly doubt it._

"We'll see about that," Weiss irritably replied. "Now I'm going to the temple. I won't get a bad grade because of you slowing me down."

Ruby sped up beside her, which left a few rose petals in her wake. "You don't have to worry about that, see? I'm the fastest person around!" she bolted forward a few more feet and never lost that signature smile.

Weiss rolled her eyes and sarcastically mumbled. "Great…"

The two started walking where they thought the temple was located. It didn't take long for Weiss to get annoyed at her new partner.

The heiress had to admit; it took Ruby longer than she expected to irritate her. Things were going well as they walked through the forest, but then Ruby did something _very_ annoying.

This wasn't a cute annoying. This wasn't a funny annoying.

Oh no. It was far worse.

Ruby was _singing._

They were in a grimm infested forest during their very crucial initiation. The fact that her new partner was _singing_ was beyond Weiss. That was the last thing Ruby should be doing.

"Stop singing," Weiss stated. "It will attract predators."

Technically, grimm were attracted to negativity. Singing might have the opposite effect, especially since Ruby was so chipper. But Weiss was desperate for any excuse to make her new partner shut up.

"Oops!" Ruby covered her mouth. "My bad."

Glad that Ruby would stop singing, Weiss focused more on her surroundings until the noise of Ruby humming reached her ears.

"Stop breathing," the heiress said. "It bothers me."

Ruby rubbed the back of her head in confusion. "Uh…"

"Just be quiet," Weiss snapped. "Can't you go two seconds without making any noise?"

Ruby stopped dead in her tracks, prompting Weiss to follow suit.

Ruby frowned. "Yang was right. You are a princess," she said in a mocking tone.

"Don't bring that bumbling brute into this," Weiss' eyes narrowed at the accusation. "Maybe I wouldn't be acting like this if you took this initiation seriously!"

"There's nothing wrong with having a little fun along the way!" Ruby countered.

"Only a child would say that," Weiss replied evenly.

"Only a stickler would agree with you!" Ruby exclaimed.

As the two continued bickering, the heiress caught a glimpse of menacing red eyes in the distance. In order to hone in on the possible threat, Weiss tuned out Ruby's high-pitched voice and focused.

A lone beowolf stealthily jumped out of the bushes and cautiously advanced behind Ruby, preparing for a sneak-attack.

Weiss kept watching the grimm and wondered what to do while the brunette continued her rant, unaware of the danger.

One thing stuck out to Weiss. Beowolves usually travelled in packs. Yet, no matter how hard she tried, she could only hear some bird's chirps. There were no signs of other grimm, either. She could question that later; right now she needed to think of a plan of attack.

 _I can't use zehn and impale it with ice,_ she thought. _We are being watched… I'll do it the old fashioned way._

Ruby's question snapped Weiss out of her thoughts. "Hellooo?" she waved her hands in front of her partner. "Remnant to Weiss? Are you there?"

Weiss pulled out her rapier while rolling her eyes. Not a second later, there was a threatening snarl of the grimm directly behind her, which caused Ruby's silver eyes to widen in disbelief.

She was so caught up in the petty argument she'd failed to focus on her surroundings!

The heiress wasted no time and launched herself at the beowolf, effectively impaling it in the chest. After the beowolf howled in pain, Weiss struck it several more times while dancing around the dangerous creature.

Ruby could only watch her partner's fighting style in awe, her jaw agape. Unlike Ruby's harsh landing, Weiss' fighting style emitted several specks of the purest white. It was so graceful and elegant. Just watching her new partner fight put Ruby at ease, which was odd, considering fighting should do the exact opposite to a person.

Once the beowolf dissipated, Weiss expertly sheathed her rapier before moving forward.

Ruby was stuck in a trance as she watched her partner walk ahead of her.

"Woooow," Ruby gawked. "That was amazing! Thanks for the save, Weiss."

"Don't mention it," the heiress kept her eyes forward. She just wanted to find Blake and the temple.

"What's your weapon's name?" Ruby asked the girl while the two continued their trek. "My sweetheart is Crescent Rose."

Ruby just wanted to learn as much about her new partner's fighting style as possible. She was still in absolute awe.

Weiss heavily sighed. "Myrtenaster."

Weiss' new partner sure was tiring. Ruby didn't seem to be able to stop talking for a second.

Weiss decided to just accept her laughing fate and sighed again.

"Ohhhh," the brunette drawled in awe. "That sounds cool! Is the name German?"

"Yes but I didn't name it, so I don't know the meaning," Weiss revealed.

"Who did?"

Weiss gave her a glare.

"Ehehe," Ruby chuckled awkwardly. "Is it a secret?"

The heiress didn't answer and kept walking forward.

The background of her weapon was a personal thing to her. There was no way Weiss would give the answer to her new child-like partner. Weiss felt like Ruby didn't deserve to know.

Besides, Weiss didn't name Myrtenaster, and she didn't want to reveal the background behind the weapon in general.

It was a personal thing.

And Ruby seemed like the kind of person to ask questions… and a lot of them.

Weiss wanted to avoid that at all costs, so she kept silent.

The two hacked and slashed through the thick plantation in relative silence, something Weiss was grateful for. Maybe Ruby realized she'd overstepped her boundaries.

After a few minutes in this manner, the temple was in view.

"There are the chess pieces!" Ruby pointed.

Weiss looked around and saw a certain blood-faunus sitting on the grass with an ever-present poker face.

"She's here."

Her vampire sister was okay and that was all that mattered to Weiss. The fact that the chess pieces were also there was a bonus.

Blake was still wearing her bow, which bothered Weiss, but it was Blake's choice. No matter how many times Weiss tried to convince her sister to take it off, she adamantly refused, saying it was easier to fit in, which was the whole point of enrolling in Beacon.

Before Weiss could bolt to Blake, the ground shook and trembled. Ruby and Weiss almost lost their balance when the mini earthquake was drawn out for several seconds that felt like an eternity. A few trees fell from the large impact in the distance. The heiress kept her gaze on her sister, amused when Blake pulled out her weapon.

"Wh-what was that!?" Ruby yelped.

Weiss followed her sister's lead and took out her rapier in case of a threat. Before the heiress knew it, there was a yellow blob flying across the forest floor.

"It's Yang!" Ruby exclaimed, which confirmed Weiss' thoughts.

 _What's she so desperate to get to?_ the heiress asked herself.

That's when a giant deathstalker came into view when it jumped out of the tree line. It then shrieked in alarm from one of the blonde's notorious hard punches.

 _I need to get there before-_

Weiss didn't even finish her thoughts as she summoned a trail of glyphs to skid across like a bullet.

Thinking on her feet, Weiss threw one of her dust bottles on the ground as she slid across the forest floor just as the beast lunged its deadly tail at Yang.

Although using zehn would be quicker, there was no way she could use it here, so she elected to use dust instead.

The ice from the dust stopped the grimm's poisonous tail from impaling Yang just in time. Weiss was there a split second later, holding up her rapier to block the deadly tail, making sure it wouldn't advance so much as a millimeter.

Once the heiress was sure it wouldn't budge, she glanced behind her to meet the blonde's lilac gaze.

"It seems our roles have reversed."

* * *

 **Seeya Saturday and hope you liked it!**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	12. Overnight Initiation: Reunited

"It seems our roles have reversed."

Lilac orbs met azure.

"Princess?"

The deathstalker finally yanked its tail out of the ice dust Weiss had thrown on the ground. It shrieked in annoyance and flailed its deadly claws while they were still in a dangerous close range.

Before the sharp pincers could stab Weiss or Yang, Blake swung Gambol Shroud around to nail the claws firmly in place to the ground.

Now the beast was screeching wildly and was immobilized.

After that, Ruby took this as her chance to slice off the poisonous tail in rapid succession with her scythe. This caused the biggest threat, the poisonous stinger, to land directly on the deathstalker's own head, which made the beast go silent and still.

Ruby and Blake checked the corpse over and made sure it started to dissipate before they let their guard down. If that monster somehow survived, they preferred to be ready for a counter-attack.

Yang could only sit on the ground and stare at her sister in awe. This time, it wasn't Yang who came to Ruby's rescue. It was her baby sister proving that she could watch out for not only herself, but others as well.

Finally, her gaze tore away from Ruby and lingered to the corpse.

To say it was impressive would be an understatement.

Yang had to admit; she hadn't seen a deathstalker of that size before. It was bigger than the average grimm, yet Ruby, Weiss, and Blake didn't hesitate for a second to put themselves in danger for someone in need. Not even Yang herself.

That's when Yang knew…

They were truly in the right place. This was definitely what she wanted to do with her life.

To help others in need.

With a grin, Yang scanned the corpse one last time and was proud to see there was a dent in the beast's head from the harsh impact with its own sharp stinger.

"Thanks guys," the redhead almost panted for breath. "It chased me for miles."

"It's no problem," Ruby replied, and then she realized she didn't know her future classmate's name. "Ugh…"

"Pyrrha," said girl answered. "I appreciate the help, but I must go now. My partner flew halfway across the forest."

With that, Pyrrha bolted away to find her partner. Even though she was there for a short time, they could tell her gratitude was genuine. However, her absence left Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang in the dust.

"That was a thing," Yang chirped.

Weiss was a little infuriated at her choice of words. She hadn't known Yang for long, but she sure said that phrase a lot. It was also easy to tell that Yang charged in without a game plan. Weiss was all about strategy, so to know her future classmate was this reckless…

That wasn't reassuring.

"It wouldn't be a 'thing' if you took extra caution in the first place!" Weiss snapped.

"I had to help her!"

"You would've easily been killed if I hadn't stepped in!"

"Listen here, princess-"

"No, you listen-"

While the two bickered, Ruby had taken the liberty of grabbing one of the horse-shaped chess pieces and carefully slid it in her pocket. After what transpired, she almost forgot why they were there in the first place. Even though she wanted to pass initiation more than anything, she couldn't believe she almost forgot such a crucial part to pass it.

Meanwhile, Blake ran up to her sister while she was still arguing with Yang. The aristocrat placed a comforting hand on Weiss' back, worriedly checking for injuries.

Weiss silently appreciated the gesture. She could tell Blake was genuinely concerned for her well-being as a sister, rather than her typical bodyguard mode instinct. This was a caring sister concern and that relieved her a bit; even in the midst of the argument she was currently in.

The two couldn't stop glowering at each other until Yang took a deep breath.

"You're right."

Weiss was taken aback from the statement. "Huh?"

"I said you're right," Yang admitted. "I have a habit of rushing in with no plan, so thanks for the save."

Weiss didn't know what to do, so she just crossed her arms and looked away. "Whatever."

She was never used to being thanked, or had appreciation shown towards her. Weiss' behavior was definitely standoff-ish to strangers, but she simply didn't know how to reply. But her vampire sister could tell deep down Weiss actually appreciated the gratitude.

"Are you okay?" Blake asked. "Any injuries?"

"No injuries," Weiss replied. "What about you? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," the blood-faunus said. "I got Yang as my partner," she knew her sister wouldn't like the news, but she had to find out sooner or later. Might as well tell her now.

"You WHAT?!" Weiss practically screeched.

That reply was expected. Blake had already covered the ears under her bow in time.

Yang recoiled from the yelp and placed her hands over her ears just like Blake. "Jeez, princess! What's the matter?!"

Oh no. The heiress was _done_ playing games.

Weiss sauntered up to Yang in a focused fury, her tone even. "You're partners with my sister?"

"Sister?" Yang asked in amusement, not at all catching on that Weiss wasn't happy with the situation. "So _that's_ your relationship."

The aristocrat frowned in response.

"But you look nothing alike!" Ruby chirped.

"Neither do you!" the vampire sisters shouted in unison.

"Okay, okay," the blonde interjected. "All that aside, what should we do? The sun is setting and grimm thrive at night."

That's when Weiss pivoted on her heel to walk away with Blake directly following.

The only reason Blake was even at Beacon was to go where her sister went. That conviction didn't fade, even if she did get a new partner.

There was no way they could stay with the pair of troublesome sisters, even if it meant getting a bad grade.

The last thing Ruby wanted was for them to walk away and ignore them like back when they first met. Weiss seemed like the strategic type, so Ruby thought on her feet and shouted.

"Wait! A bigger group would be safer!"

The vampire sisters stopped in their tracks. Safety was always key, and they were in the middle of a grimm infested forest. That's when they remembered Winter's words, which was something along the lines of not allowing emotions to cloud their judgment.

"Think about it," Ruby began in a bargaining tone. "We can take turns watching for grimm while the others sleep and I can tell both of you are tired."

"She's right," the blood-faunus admitted and stared at Weiss. "It's just one night."

"It can't be _that_ bad," Weiss agreed.

Before Yang and Ruby knew it, the vampire sisters headed back to them.

Ruby silently did a victory pump in the air while Yang watched in amusement. The vampire sisters could only playfully roll their eyes at how happy Ruby looked. But they were already starting to wonder what they'd gotten themselves into.

Yang beamed a grin; glad they could finally work together… possibly without arguing. "Now that that's settled, what should we do?"

"I'm a little thirsty," Ruby mentioned. "I can't be the only one."

Everyone silently nodded in agreement.

"We should look for water," Ruby suggested. "Then set up camp next to whatever water source we find."

"Water we waiting for?" Yang asked, clearly proud of her pun. "Guys?"

Weiss could only scowl at her sister's partner. "You are such a brute."

"You know that was good," the blonde almost whined.

No one said a word as they trudged through the forest once more, looking for a pond of some sort. Since Ruby had the bigger weapon, she took the lead and swiped down whatever tree branch was in their path with her sharp scythe.

"So," Yang began again, breaking the silence. "You guys are sisters?"

"It's complicated," Weiss curtly replied.

"That's what Blakey told me earlier," the blonde recalled. "Is it really that complicated?"

Blake's ears under her bow perked from the nickname. Her partner already gave her a nickname? Blake wasn't sure if she liked it or not.

"Yes," Blake stated. "Now could you stop with the interrogation?"

The last thing she wanted was Yang to find out more about them. The other pair of sisters already know that the vampires have a close relationship and were possibly related. If Yang kept asking questions, that could very well jeopardize their vampiric existence and their time at Beacon.

"I agree with Blake," Ruby chirped as she looked back at the three. "Don't press them. They'll tell us when they want to."

 _Maybe that dolt isn't a lost cause,_ Weiss thought.

"Fine," the blonde muttered.

The vampire sisters were glad Ruby seemed to be understanding. They made a mental note that if anyone could keep Yang in line, it'd be Ruby.

After a few minutes of snaking their way through the forest, a shimmering pond was in view.

"We did it!" Ruby pumped her fist in the air. "Gooooo team!"

The vampire sisters gave each other a look.

"Settle down, dolt," Weiss said after she hesitantly brought the water in her palms.

"You should get used to it," the blonde suggested. "She always has this much energy."

After everyone got their share of sustenance, they decided to settle for the night. The sun was almost done lingering over the horizon, so they called it a day. They didn't settle right by the pond and traveled a little further in the forest in hopes that predators wouldn't hear them.

The four sat in a circle and put their weapons to the side.

"I'm debating if we should make a fire," Weiss chimed. "On one hand, it could attract grimm, but on the other, we wouldn't freeze at night."

"I"m fine at night," Yang mentioned. "I'm a natural heater, so it's really up to you guys."

"We all get a say in this, Yang," Ruby replied, seemingly deep in thought. "First of all, do we want to switch off for the night watch?"

"I don't see why not," the blood-faunus added. "We'd each get some sleep that way."

"One person on guard at all times would be smart," Weiss stated.

"So if one person is awake on guard for predators... and we'd take turns..." Ruby mumbled. "I don't see why a fire would be a problem, or at least a huge problem."

"Are we willing to take the risk?" Blake asked everyone.

Silence followed, and Yang could only shrug.

"The person on guard can alert the others if there're grimm. If it's really that much of a bother, I can be the first watch."

"Nope!" Ruby chimed. "I call it!"

"Fine," Yang surrendered. "I'll-"

"I'll be after," Blake interjected, a smirk present.

"Then I'm going!" Yang finished quickly so Weiss wouldn't call it before her.

"Guess I'm the last watch," Weiss said.

"Alright!" Ruby clasped her hands together. "Now that that's settled, we need the actual fire."

Each person had their own task for the fire. Weiss volunteered to get some wood. With her rapier, it wasn't hard to slice through some tree branches with her sharp blade. Meanwhile, Blake went ahead and gathered rocks by the pond in order to contain the fire to keep it from spreading. To even get a fire in the first place, Ruby tried to get Yang riled up to start it with her semblance since they didn't want to waste any supplies.

"You're a horrible sister!" Ruby exclaimed and pointed accusingly at her.

"We both know that's not true!" Yang countered, which made Ruby sigh.

"Yeah, you're right," Ruby admitted in defeat. "Oh! I got one! You wet the bed till you were four!"

"Rubes!" Yang yelped, her face turned a slight red. "That doesn't make me angry, that makes me embarrassed!"

Weiss walked back with several sticks in her grasp. She couldn't help but overhear their yells and a plan sparked in her mind.

"The brute can get embarrassed?" Weiss asked, a smirk present as she threw the wood on the ground. "Good to know."

Yang bit her lip in irritation. "Listen here, princess-"

"No, you listen," Weiss cut her off. "We wouldn't even be in this mess if you could just control yourself."

"I told you, you're right!" Yang exclaimed. "I get it!"

"Obviously you don't."

Ruby noticed her sister's eyes were starting to turn crimson and smiled at the result. Her new partner was definitely intelligent.

After Blake set the rocks around the sticks to make sure the fire wouldn't spread, she stood next to the heiress defensively, making sure a fight wouldn't break out.

"A bumbling brute like you can't understand anything!" Weiss shouted.

That's when Ruby yanked on Yang's hair as it ignited in flames.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Yang rubbed where her hair was pulled on. "Rubes, what the hell!?"

Now Yang didn't look like she wanted to punch the white-haired girl, but her own sister instead.

There was only one person who could even _touch_ her golden mane and that was Ruby. Even though she did technically touch it, that didn't mean she had the right to pull it out!

Ruby ignored her sister's yelp and carefully let the flaming strands of hair drift on top of the wood, which ignited the fire.

"It worked Yang," Ruby smiled. "Weiss got you angry enough to start a flame."

"Was this planned?!" Yang yelped.

Weiss slyly smirked. "It worked, didn't it?"

"Wha…" the blonde was dumbfounded.

The makeshift fire was crackling brightly. By now, the sun had set and the fire was the only light in the darkness. The others couldn't even see each other without the flame, except for Blake with her faunus vision.

"You took advantage of my emotions," Yang whined as she sat down. "How rude. I feel so violated."

Weiss perked an eyebrow. "Of all things, you're complaining about that?"

As the two continued to bicker, Ruby looked at Blake, but tried not to stare too much. It didn't take Blake long to realize Ruby was slightly uncomfortable with their shouting. By now, Blake knew their arguments would most likely not break out in a fight and she decided to enjoy the relatively peaceful night instead.

Besides the arguing, the sky was filled with shimmering stars and the calm moonlight. The shattered moon overlooked the forest and smiled down at them. Blake was just glad to be out of the castle for once, and she couldn't help but smirk at Ruby while getting caught up in those thoughts.

"Think it'll be like this all night?" Ruby asked.

Blake stared at Yang and Weiss, who were still yelling at each other.

"Probably…"

* * *

 **If you didn't laugh at the sister joke:**

 **Ruby: "But you look nothing alike!"**

 **Weiss & Blake: "Neither do you!"**

 **What even are you?**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	13. Overnight Initiation: Aura Transfer

Blake couldn't sleep at all that night. When Ruby's watch was over, it was Blake's turn to keep guard for predators. She silently thanked Ruby for tapping her on the back to rouse her. It was annoying trying to fall asleep when she couldn't since the day's events swarmed her mind.

Few words were exchanged as she propped herself up against a tree, her faunus ears alert for danger. Her gaze lingered to her group that surrounded the crackling fire. She had to admit, she was impressed the flames had lingered for so long and well into the dark night.

Eventually, Blake found herself gazing at the calm night sky.

It was so surreal…

If her and Weiss didn't convince their father to let them attend Beacon, she wouldn't be able to sniff the soothing breeze, or enjoy the random calls of nature. They'd still be stuck in that castle…

Now Blake understood what Weiss meant all those years ago.

The castle really was kind of like a prison.

But right now, she just felt so free...

Good thoughts mainly took over her mind now as she gripped Gambol Shroud. They were in danger since they were still in the middle of a grimm infested forest, and Blake knew she shouldn't forget that.

The castle provided constant protection, but being out here made her feel anxious. Especially since her vampire sister was with her.

But the aristocrat knew better than anyone…

Enrolling in Beacon might be better for them in the long run.

Before she knew it, her rotation was over after a few hours. She finally started to feel a little tired. The blood-faunus practically shoved Yang awake since she was a heavy sleeper.

"Huh, w-what?"

"It's your turn," the aristocrat informed.

"Right," the blonde gradually sat up. "How was it?"

"Boring," Blake deadpanned. "I'll be right back. I need water."

"Want me to come with?" Yang offered. She knew how dangerous it was to be alone in the forest.

"I'll be quick, don't worry," the aristocrat reassured.

Yang could only nod and propped herself up on the same tree trunk her partner leaned on earlier.

"Just hurry."

The blood-faunus nodded and scurried off.

Yang was content to just lean against the trunk and enjoyed the occasional breeze with a grin. She quickly got bored, and that's when the fire crackled a bit and caught her attention. After she stared at the contained fire, her gaze lingered to her sister, who was drooling, and then to a peaceful Weiss.

 _She's… definitely something. It's like just yesterday she yelled at me in Vale,_ Yang couldn't help but laugh to herself. _Now she's yelling at me in the Emerald Forest._

A horrified scream snapped the blonde out of her thoughts. Before she could even stand, Weiss and Ruby woke up.

"What was that?!" Ruby asked frantically.

Yang gasped in an epiphany.

"Blake!"

Wasting no time, the three bolted towards the origin of the scream and abandoned the fire. Ruby easily sprinted ahead of the two with her speed semblance and wielded her scythe in preparation for the worst.

The journey there seemed like an eternity. To make things worse, the only way the three could see was the moon's overwrought rays.

There were menacing snarls up ahead, so the three picked up the pace.

In a flash of red, Ruby blended into the darkness. Violent slashes rang out, and that's when Yang caught up with the help of Weiss' glyphs and she rocketed a punch directly at a beowolf.

Knowing the sisters could handle any roaming grimm, Weiss whipped her head around to search for Blake.

It didn't take long to pinpoint where her sister was.

On the ground.

And she wasn't moving.

"Blake!" Weiss exclaimed as she coddled the blood-faunus' body. "Blake?!"

Her worst fears were confirmed in that moment. They hadn't even been initiated at Beacon yet and her beloved sister was already injured. Something like this was bound to happen sooner or later, and Weiss had told herself she'd be ready, but now that it actually happened…

She didn't know what to do, especially when Blake didn't respond to any frantic shouts or shakes.

She was completely limp in Weiss' arms.

Once Ruby and Yang finished off the grimm, they dropped down next to the distraught heiress and fallen Blake.

"Is she okay?" Yang asked, trying to keep a levelled head.

Ruby's hand brushed against the grass, but there was an unfamiliar sensation.

A thick, warm liquid coated the ground.

The brunette cautiously raised her palms and gasped. The sight confirmed her fear. "She's losing blood."

While Weiss gently rubbed Blake's bangs in a silent attempt to comfort her sister, Yang checked Blake's body for wounds and noticed a large gash on her leg.

"She got clawed in the leg," Yang diagnosed. "It looks pretty bad."

"Do any of you know aura transfer?" Ruby suddenly asked.

Of course!

How could Weiss forget that technique at a time like this?!

Blake was there suffering and sweating and all Weiss did up until this point was just sit there!

She cursed herself for her negligence.

Once she composed herself, Weiss gently set the blood-faunus on the soft forest floor. After swallowing the bile in her throat, she scooted closer to the injury and hovered her hands over the bleeding wound.

"What're you doing?" Yang asked with a bit of force in her tone.

Blake was her new partner, so Yang was worried what the heiress had planned.

"Ruby," Weiss started. "If you could get your sister to shut up so I can concentrate, that'd be nice."

"Yang, please."

Yang almost looked offended from the comment, but remembered Weiss must be worried sick for her sister at the moment and shut her mouth.

With silence as encouragement, Weiss took a deep breath and carefully leaked her own aura into Blake's body. Her eyes shut in concentration as she tried to make her aura go to one specific spot. It takes a lot of energy to even start the process, so enhancing and controlling aura put a tax on the user.

Once Weiss managed to hone in on the large gash, Blake's wounds slowly began to shut. Slowly but surely, her skin stitched back together and that caused some strange healing noises to fill the air.

Ruby and Yang could only stare in amazement as they watched Weiss work her magic.

The bleeding had finally stopped and Blake's injury was completely healed in a few minutes. To make sure her sister would be in the best condition possible, Weiss gave her more aura to jump start Blake's own and channeled her own energy into her.

She pushed her body to the limit, unbeknownst to Ruby and Yang.

 _Good,_ Weiss thought. _She's healed. Now she needs blood-_

She moved to stand, but felt herself falling backward. _Oh no…_

Yang was able to catch Weiss just in time as she fell. "Take it easy," she said softly as she gently guided her to the ground and to her protective lap.

Ruby stared at Blake, who began to stir. "I don't know how you knew how to do that, but it was incredible."

Aura transfer was a difficult technique, so to say Ruby was impressed was an understatement. That also left her to wonder how her new partner could use it since it wasn't taught to their age group.

Yang looked back down at Weiss, who was breathing heavily, her body shaking from the lack of energy. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," Weiss answered. "I just need… a second."

The sisters nodded and Ruby checked on Blake, who let out a groan.

 _She lost too much blood,_ Weiss thought. _When vampires lose blood, their zehn decreases. The only way to replenish zehn is to drink blood..._

It took about a minute, but when Weiss gained control over her breathing, Yang set her up carefully.

"Water…" the heiress breathed.

That was all Yang needed to hear to get up and bolt to the pond. She didn't want to sit there any longer, so knowing there was something she could do sent her into action.

 _Perfect,_ Weiss smirked as she watched Yang blend into the forest.

Ruby noticed Weiss try to scoot next to Blake, but was struggling due to how drained she was. Not wanting to watch the display any longer, Ruby attempted to coax her partner to sit next to her sibling.

To provide even an ounce of comfort.

The heiress seemed like she was more bothered by the contact than appreciated it, but Ruby ignored that feeling and the two focused on what mattered.

"Will she be okay?" Ruby asked.

"Yes," Weiss nodded. "Her injury is completely healed. She'll wake up soon."

"Where'd you learn how to do that?"

Weiss realized she was referring to aura transfer. "Someone I admire," she answered as she silently thanked Winter.

"You gotta teach me how to do that sometime," Ruby said. Like earlier, Ruby sensed her new partner didn't like being questioned and didn't want to press for an actual answer. "Aura transfer seems helpful. Yang says only second years get to learn that technique."

Before the heiress could reply, Yang charged through the bushes and loudly exclaimed. "I got your water!"

"Speak of the devil…" Weiss murmured.

The blonde carefully held out the leaf that contained water. "Here ya go, princess! Clean as can be!"

Weiss reached for the makeshift plate and was careful not to jostle it. "Thank you."

"No problem," Yang happily chirped, glad to be of help.

Suddenly, Weiss stood as quickly as possible, although she was a bit wobbly. The quick action startled the sisters as their gazes were firmly on the girl.

"What is it?" Ruby asked, now more alert.

"Did you hear that?" Weiss stared straight ahead in the forest. "I heard something. Over there," she pointed in the distance.

Ruby and Yang prepared their weapons as they glared at the forest.

"I don't hear anything," Yang said, still vigilant for grimm.

While the sister's heads were turned, Weiss managed to grab a blood tablet from her dust pouch. "I thought I heard something…" she mumbled as she slyly dropped it in the water Yang gave her, making sure no cameras were around. Shortly afterward, the clear liquid turned crimson.

 _It's not real blood, but it will have to do._

The sisters advanced further in the distance, on guard for any threat.

"You sure you're not imagining things?" Ruby asked.

The heiress ignored the question, glad she thought of a distraction in order to slip a blood tablet in the water. She coaxed Blake's head in her lap. After that, it didn't take long for the blood-faunus' eyelids to groggily flutter open and Weiss noticed they were red and clouded over, but there was more prominent confusion.

 _Better make this quick._

Weiss put one finger over her own mouth to silence Blake. Her vampire sister must've been muddled, so she hoped to ease her nerves in any way possible. After that, she brought the leaf-cup to her lips and carefully tilted it.

She had never seen the aristocrat eagerly down something so quickly.

"Hey," Yang walked over to them. "I thought the water was for you."

"She needs it more than me."

 _We can't have her biting and turning you two into food._

"Thank you," Blake rasped, her red eyes shifted back to their gentle amber color.

"Better?" the heiress asked in a whisper.

"Much," Blake slowly sat up as Weiss braced a hand on her back. "My wound-"

"Weiss healed it!" Ruby beamed. "Are you okay now?"

"Never better," the blood-faunus replied.

 _Good,_ Weiss thought. _Her aura and zehn are replenished. She should be as good as new._

"Thank you for healing me, Weiss," Blake said genuinely. "You must be tired after that."

"A bit," the heiress admitted.

"Let's go back to camp," Ruby suggested. "From now on, no one ventures out alone. We'll go in pairs."

The other three nodded in agreement and they headed back to their main spot. It wasn't hard to find thanks to the blazing fire that still roared with life. They sat around the only source of warmth, visibly fatigued.

"I'll stay up for the rest of the night," Yang volunteered. "You need the rest more than any of us, Weiss."

"Nonsense," the heiress scoffed. "You already did your rotation, it's my turn."

"But-"

"Upupup!" Weiss silenced the blonde as she propped herself up against a tree trunk. "That's my final decision, so go to sleep."

Yang sighed and looked to Blake. "Is she always this stubborn?"

"Pretty much," the blood-faunus replied.

"Hey!"

After a few shared light giggles, the rest of the night was peaceful. Blake had stayed up along with Weiss, but she pretended to be asleep the whole time.

Weiss' azure eyes lingered to Blake and she bit her lip in frustration. She could tell her sister was awake because her faunus ears were perked up and alert.

 _Go to sleep..._

* * *

 **Hope you liked it!**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	14. Overnight Initiation: Stuck With

**A shorter chapter, I apologize but I didn't want to put in useless things and expand unnecessarily. This wraps up the overnight initiation though!**

* * *

The sun rose for another day and as dawn struck, Weiss took the liberty to wake everyone up. It was an overnight initiation, so after they collected the horse chess pieces and spent the night in the dangerous forest, they were free to head back to the cliffs to complete the test.

It only took a single tap to rouse Blake, mainly because she was already awake and still pretending to be asleep. Once the blood-faunus sat up, she helped her sister and nudged Ruby while Weiss was in charge of waking the snoring Yang- something she dreaded.

"Brute," Weiss whispered. "Get up."

"Nngh," the blonde rolled over to escape the voice. "Five more minutes…" she mumbled almost inaudibly.

The heiress' eye twitched from the response; she never had the patience for this kind of thing.

In another measly attempt, she poked Yang's shoulder. "Wake up," she said a bit more forcefully.

Yang furrowed her eyes, which had yet to see the daylight. "Just a sec…"

"You leave me no choice," Weiss muttered under her breath. Once she got directly in front of her face, she sharply inhaled. "WAKE UP!"

The shout could have shaken the entire forest when it pierced the air. Birds frantically dove out of their nests to get away from what they perceived as a threat. Even Blake and Ruby recoiled from the sudden outburst.

"Gah!" Yang yelped and shot up like a rocket. "What the hell!? You could break glass with that thing you call a voice!"

Weiss almost jumped out of the way to avoid Yang's head from hitting her in the face. "Finally!" she exclaimed. "How long does it take you to get up?"

"Forever," Ruby remarked. "After living with her for so long that's the one thing that never changes."

"I feel bad for you," Weiss said as she faced her vampire sister. "You're the one stuck with the brute."

For a moment, Weiss was thinking Beacon Academy wouldn't be so bad with the blonde out of the picture.

Blake stifled a giggle. Yang wasn't so bad in her opinion; she just didn't like it when the two bickered all the time.

After wiping the sleep from her eyes, Yang glowered. "What do you mean _stuck_ with?!"

"She's stuck with a loud snorer. Nothing could be worse..." she replied obviously and stared at the blonde. "Besides being a brute and all."

Yang raised her two fists; all signs of her fatigue were gone now. "You wanna go?!"

Ruby sighed. "Not again…"

The aristocrat stared at the scene and whispered to Ruby. "First thing in the morning and they're already at it…"

Ruby blushed at the sudden close contact with Blake, not that she minded.

Weiss huffed. "If it's a fight you're looking for you're not getting one."

"Why's that?" Yang asked, clearly annoyed. "Too chicken?" the blonde proceeded to mimic a chicken and started to cluck.

Blake stared at her partner. _That's who I'm paired with? A girl who does such a poor impression of a chicken? She can't even do it right._

The blood-faunus was starting to think she wouldn't even mind if Yang could do it properly.

A smug smirk formed on the heiress' lips as she watched the amusing scene. "At least I'm not a barbaric brute like you."

"THAT'S IT-"

Blake reacted on instinct and threw herself in front of her sister in case things escalated, her arms outstretched to protect her from harm. However, before the blonde could be thoroughly provoked into a fight, a tree fell in the distance. It landed so hard that the ground the girls stood on shook, which caused some of them to lose their balance.

Blake's bow flicked when she heard another foreign noise.

It definitely wasn't good, like a howl.

"Beowolves. I think…"

"What is it?" Ruby asked.

"Pyrrha," Blake informed the group after she zeroed in on the area with her enhanced hearing. "We need to help her."

 _Someone else is there too…_ Blake realized when she heard foreign grunts, _but who?_

Yang narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "How did you…"

"No time!" Ruby grabbed her sister's hand and bolted in the direction of the noise.

Ruby was curious as to how Blake could hear from that far away as well, but making sure the other students were safe was a top priority, at least to Ruby.

The vampire sisters could only sigh when they were left in the dust. With a nod of reassurance from Blake, Weiss used her glyphs to propel them forward.

It didn't take long to find rose petals to use as a tracking method.

While on their way, Weiss was thinking about how Blake was about to take the punch for her and frowned in disappointment.

 _Her bodyguard mode needs to turn off. It seems exhausting._

When the four girls jumped through some particularly dense shrubbery, seven beowolves were in view.

 _A whole pack,_ Blake observed and stared at the grimm who snarled.

Majority of the grimm were circling Pyrrha while a blond boy was having trouble handling one. The boy was crawling away from the intimidating grimm since his shield and sword were out of arm's reach.

Ruby and Yang ran over to lend Pyrrha a hand while Blake was still scanning the surrounding area to be cautious. The last thing they needed was an ambush while helping other classmates.

 _Are there any more?_ Blake's bow twitched in anticipation, but then she realized she lost track of her vampire sister. _Weiss! Where is she?!_

In a blur of white, the heiress was there to block a swipe just in time that was intended for Jaune. Her rapier clashed against the beowolf's claws in a stand still.

 _She can handle one,_ Blake nodded to herself and dashed towards the remaining pack.

Jaune's eyes widened as he crawled back from shock.

Her signature white hair had been etched in his mind the moment they met.

She certainly was the _last_ person he expected to be saved by, considering her initial attitude towards him.

"You're-!"

After a grunt, Weiss managed to twirl her rapier in a split second and impaled the grimm in the chest. After it dissipated, she was pleased to see Yang, Pyrrha, Ruby, and Blake had defeated the rest of the pack.

The heiress sheathed her rapier and turned around. "What were you doing? That was _one_ beowolf! Are you even ready for this level of combat?"

Jaune slowly stood with the help of his new partner, Pyrrha.

After the Weiss was done scolding the poor boy, she realized he looked familiar and tried to remember why.

He dusted himself off from the dirt and gathered his belongings that had scattered in the fray. "Sorry about that, snow angel."

 _That's why,_ the heiress thought.

"Don't call me that, John," Weiss huffed.

"It's Jaune!" he corrected. "You already forgot?"

An unbearable silence was his answer.

"I'd stop calling you that if I knew your name," Jaune suggested.

Pyrrha stood by her new partner's side and eyed the glowering white-haired girl. "You two have met before?"

Weiss crossed her arms and scoffed. "He came onto me like some concupiscent boy."

 _Plus, he's from a family of idiots._

Yang leaned in her sister's ear. "Concupiscent?"

Ruby just shrugged, not knowing what it meant.

Yang almost gasped, it must've been a pretty fancy word if even her prodigy sister didn't know the definition.

"Look," Jaune started, sincerity in his tone. "I'm sorry if I came off as too confident, or even arrogant. I just want to get to know you."

The heiress huffed and crossed her arms.

That boy came from an ignorant family and he had already called her the name she despised.

That was almost three strikes.

"Not happening."

"Wait," Yang interjected, finally putting the pieces together. "So Weiss is the one who rejected you?"

"Weiss?" Jaune tilted his head. "That's your name?"

"Huh…" Yang mumbled. "Should'a known it was you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Weiss asked with force in her tone.

"It means-"

"Guys!" Ruby shouted, she wasn't about to let there be another fight. "Can we please just go back to Beacon before anything bad happens?"

They were still in the middle of a grimm infested forest, and Jaune was almost beheaded in the midst of the encounter, so Ruby just wanted to get back as soon as possible without any casualties.

They had done their job.

Every second out there was a risk they didn't have to take.

Yang and Weiss glared at the other until they huffed and looked away.

"Fine," Weiss reluctantly agreed.

"Okay," Yang said, clearly a bit frustrated.

"That's what I like to hear," Ruby replied. "Let's get going."

The pairs of sisters walked next to each other and kept their distance between the other pair. Meanwhile, Jaune and Pyrrha took this as their chance to get to know one another.

At last, the overnight initiation was about to come to an end once they reach Beacon with the chess pieces in hand.

* * *

All the students that participated in the overnight initiation waited in the common area to be called on stage.

By their new headmaster.

"Next we have Blake Schnee, Yang Xiao Long, Weiss Schnee, and Ruby Rose. You four collected the white knight pieces and make up team RWBY. Led by… Ruby Rose."

Blake and Weiss were content to just be at Beacon. They figured Ruby was chosen since she was the one who took charge during initiation. The two were lucky enough to even be there so they weren't about to complain.

As Weiss stared at the crowd with a forced smile, she felt a light jab in her side. She looked up to see a certain blonde with an ear-to-ear grin.

"Looks like you're stuck with me, too."

* * *

 **Finally! Team RWBY is TEAM RWBY! Hey guys, also, next week when this is posted… RWBY VOLUME 4 PREMIERE IS OUT. Of course, you probably know that. OMG HYPE.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	15. First Class

**RWBY VOLUME 4 IS OUT TODAY PEEPS. THE AGONIZING WAIT IS OVER! Hopefully you read this after the first episode? Priorities.**

* * *

The first night in their new dorm room was difficult for all of team RWBY. Being away from home for the first time in a long time was difficult to adjust to, especially for Blake and Weiss.

They had never slept in any other place that wasn't dubbed a 'home,' but they supposed Beacon would be their home for a while and decided they should get used to it.

Thankfully, each pair of sisters had each other and therefore each of them got a good night's sleep in their new… questionable… bunk beds.

After Ruby blew her whistle to wake the team, they decorated the room. A few minutes later, Weiss scolded their leader about how they would be late to their first lecture and she bolted out the door, leaving the rest to dart after her.

They barely beat the ring of the bell and they sat down on the far left column of the classroom in the middle. Presently, professor Port was lecturing the class about fairy tales, myths, and legends.

"Why talk about this on the first day of class?" Port asked himself, but directed the question to the class. "Myths, legends and fairy tales are where we get our stories and inspirations from!"

"Yeah!" a random kid pumped his fist in the air.

 _Suck up,_ Blake thought.

"Oho!" Port boomed. "We'll talk about myths and legends first. Why? Because myths and legends are lessons that ring with truth!"

Pretty much everyone could already tell this would be a boring class in general. Despite that, team RWBY offered the professor a little awareness. They could tell it was going to be a long lecture.

"Some of the most popular myths in Remnant include werewolves and vampires."

That line made Blake and Weiss give their undivided attention.

 _Hm,_ Weiss internally scoffed. _If werewolves were real my family would have eradicated them by now,_ she glared at the professor. _You humans need to educate yourselves._

That's when she glanced around the room and realized almost every single student wasn't paying attention. Now that she thought about it, who _would_ care? Odds are that none of them would ever need to know of a vampire's existence.

It's like the vampire sister's existence really was a myth.

Not real.

Weiss knew humans thought that way, but to see people not caring in person…

To see that they actually thought their very existence was made-up...

It hurt inside.

She brushed those thoughts off after concluding there was absolutely nothing she could do about that, so there was no point in sulking.

Despite the vampire sisters' calm composure, the subject sparked anxiety within them. Here they were, in full view of humans, and their existence was hidden. Weiss gathered Blake must have been even more nervous than her, considering she was both a vampire and faunus.

 _Both_ of her identities were hidden, hiding one was hard enough, but two?

That had to be difficult.

In order to compose themselves, the vampire sisters took a few sips from their blacked out drink cups, which ironically had blood tablets in them.

They developed a nervous habit over the years. To satisfy their urges and anxieties, the vampire sisters liked to sip on blood tablet water like it was actually water. It surprisingly did wonders to ease their nerves.

The heiress wasn't surprised when she looked over to see Blake had her usual poker face. She was as composed as ever.

Weiss put a hand under her chin to feign disinterest on the subject. _First day, no, first class and he's already talking about our hidden existence. There's millions of other things to talk about, why this? Of all times?_

The vampire sisters wanted to be seen as normal in any way possible. They wanted to blend in with society instead of being isolated like they had been for majority of their lives.

It's like the world was out for them. Like the students were out to get them. Like _everyone_ was out to get them. But as Weiss glanced around again, she knew for a fact there was nothing to worry about.

"Legend has it that vampires exist to this day!" Port exclaimed. "Although personally I find it hard to believe."

"Exactly," a male's voice chimed in an unimpressed tone. "Can we talk about something else that's… you know… real?"

 _That voice,_ the vampire sisters thought in unison.

 _It's…_ Weiss' eyes widened at the realization.

That comment got the whole class' attention. Team RWBY and everyone else turned in the direction of the speaker.

 _Him,_ Blake narrowed her eyes at the student and made sure he wouldn't be able to see her face by leaning behind Ruby.

"Mr. Winchester, care to elaborate?" Port didn't like it when his students' interrupted a lecture. Still, there are always two sides to a story. Maybe he had a decent argument?

Cardin leaned back in his seat, kicking his legs on the table and placed his hands behind his head.

 _He really does have no manners,_ Weiss scowled at him and tried to skewer his view of her by leaning behind Yang. Her thick mane could block anything. _That damned pureblood..._

"I'm just saying," Cardin continued. "Us students have to pay to be here. We want to learn about things that matter when we become hunters," he smirked and lowered his voice. "Not learn about useless vampire and werewolf crap."

Weiss and Blake couldn't help but smirk from the comment.

"There are many lessons to be learned from these tales," Port informed. "That will be detention after class for you, Mr. Winchester, and I expect a ten page essay about the 'useless' topic on my desk tomorrow morning."

"What?!"

A few snickers rang out in the room, including Yang's and Ruby's.

"You heard me," Port countered. "And don't interrupt again."

Cardin glowered and crossed his arms. He didn't expect to be talked back to; he was used to be the one in power, not the other way around. He then huffed and took his legs off the desk.

To secretly spite Cardin, Weiss grabbed her drink and took a swig, remembering he despised blood tablets.

Once she set her drink on the desk, Yang glanced at her teammate to avoid the boring lecture. The blonde couldn't help but notice a red liquid smeared just to the left on her teammate's lips.

"Princess," Yang whispered.

The heiress hesitantly tore her gaze away from Port. "What?"

"Are you uh…" the blonde stared at the all black bottle. "Is… is that wine?"

If Weiss had the liquid in her mouth she would've done a spit take. "What?!"

Yang leaned in and murmured. "Can I get in on that?"

"Yang!" Weiss chided in a harsh whisper. "We're in class!"

The blonde was obviously baffled. "Then what're you drinkin'?"

If her overbearing teammate was this troublesome now, it was going to be a long year.

"Why do you care?" Weiss asked, wondering why her teammate was so interested.

"You got a little uh," Yang pointed to the corner of her lips. "Red mark right there."

Weiss' eyes widened and she quickly wiped it off. A tiny bit of adrenaline spiked in her system, but she maintained her composure.

Did she just blow her cover?

Already?

For a lecture, this period was wearing her out.

There were only so many close calls she could handle in the span of a minute.

"So… what is it?"

No, Yang didn't know what the red liquid was! Humans don't even know about blood tablets! Its existence was as carefully guarded as a vampire's!

Being calm and collected was the key way they would blend in. As long as they could do that, then there _should_ be no problems.

"If you must know, it's red tea," the heiress casually replied, knowing she was lying through her teeth.

She noticed Blake's bow twitch from the response.

"Oh," Yang seemed excited and reached out to grab the bottle. "Gimme some!"

If there was one thing Yang liked besides coffee, it was tea.

"No way!" Weiss yelped and grabbed the bottle before her teammate could. "Get your own!"

There was no way in _hell_ she'd let her teammate discover the truth.

The heiress stood to avoid Yang's flailing hands and tossed the bottle to Blake. The blood-faunus caught the drink and hid it under the table, somehow managing to do such a feat without Yang taking notice.

"Ms. Schnee and Ms. Xiao Long!"

From the call, Blake accidentally whipped her head up. She had the last name for majority of her life and it got confusing at times.

During the commotion, Yang and Weiss forgot that they were in the middle of a lecture. They stopped dead in their tracks, with Weiss' hand in the air and Yang reaching to grab it, only to realize the hand was now empty.

"What the-"

"Detention for the both of you," Port stated. "You will join Mr. Winchester after class."

"Yes sir," Weiss instantly replied.

"Okay…" Yang murmured.

Under normal circumstances, the blonde would try to persuade the teacher to not let them have detention, but it was the first day, and Weiss seemed mad enough already. Causing a commotion would be the last thing that would help their situation.

After sitting down, Port went back to the lecture. There was no way Weiss could pay attention now, she was starting to get nervous. Cardin knew for a fact she was there, and what's worse, she was stuck in detention with the pureblood and brute. To top it off, their vampire secret was almost revealed on the _first_ day of school. Not even that, the first _class_.

The vampire sisters needed to get their things together and soon, or they won't thrive successfully with humans.

 _Now he knows we're both here,_ the heiress gulped and reluctantly turned to face Cardin, who was glaring daggers at the vampire sisters.

"Hey," Yang started again. "Sorry 'bout that. I didn't mean to get you detention."

Weiss picked up her pen and began taking notes. "We're not talking now."

"Yang," Ruby softly chimed. "Be quiet."

"Okay, okay..." the blonde mumbled.

She felt bad for what she did, but curiosity was one of her more prevalent traits, she couldn't help herself. In that moment, Yang silently promised herself and Weiss that she'd make it up to her. The last thing she wanted was her team to get off on the wrong foot, even though it was a little too late for that.

The rest of class went by quickly and the bell rang. As the students were stood and packed to leave, Port boomed once more.

"Everyone may leave, except you three," he stared at Weiss, Yang, and Cardin.

"Do you want me to stay?" Blake asked her sister. "That guy is a real douche," her glare directed at Cardin, who remained in his seat. "You never know what he'll do…"

"No," the heiress replied. "You go on ahead with Ruby. I won't be alone. The brute is with me, remember?"

Worry filled Blake's amber eyes. She looked like she was still contemplating if her sister would be safe. They didn't know much about the male pureblood and last time they spoke was left on a bad note.

Who knows if he would want revenge after the red liquid was dumped on him.

As if to prove her point, Cardin glared daggers at the team, but mainly at the vampire sisters.

"That's right!" Yang slung her arm around Weiss' shoulder. "She'll be with me, so you got nothin' to worry about."

Weiss pushed her teammate away to gain some distance between the two. "We're in this mess because of you in the first place."

"Really?" Yang held her chin in thought. "Huh… I already forgot," she sent a wink.

That gesture certainly didn't make the situation better…

"Cheer up guys!" Ruby chirped. "Blake and I will get you lunch, so just come back to the room when you're done here."

"Sounds good," the blonde beamed. "Thanks Rubes."

"No problem," Ruby replied and heaved her backpack on her back. "Ready to go, Blake?"

The aristocrat was still glaring at Cardin while in deep thought. "Yeah…"

In her heart, Blake knew her sister was right. It wasn't like Cardin could do anything in a classroom. Besides, Weiss had Yang with her. If things escalated, at least her sister wouldn't be alone.

Ruby grabbed Blake's hand and stormed out of the classroom with the use of her semblance, leaving Weiss and Yang to stand there.

It was silent until Port slammed a mountain of books on his desk.

"Oho!" Port exclaimed. "I need to check something in the other room," he said as he walked out the door and peeked his head in. "I'll be right back," he shut the door.

Weiss, Cardin, and Yang were officially left alone, the latter not knowing anything about the situation.

"Ice queen," Cardin broke the silence. "I didn't know _you'd_ be here."

* * *

 **From now on, this will be posted on Sundays since RWBY airs on Saturdays. Now I'll seeya every Sunday, yay!**

 **OHO! God I love that line. And the fact that Yang wanted to drink in class. What a fun time. She's got the right idea xD But detention on the first day? Really Yang?**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	16. Detention

"Ice queen," Cardin broke the silence. "I didn't know _you'd_ be here."

With Port out of the room, the two could speak freely. However, Yang was still there. Talk about vampires was out of the question, and the other two knew that. Weiss just wondered how this would play out, especially since Cardin didn't seem like a smart person.

Weiss' tone lowered. "Why are you here, Winchester?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

Yang whipped her head back and forth between the two. "Wait, you know each other?"

"Unfortunately," Weiss answered. "Do you know him?"

"Yes," the blonde confirmed. "He went to Signal with me and Rubes. He's a real douche," she added as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Cardin stood in a fury. "I heard that, you blonde bimbo!"

"You were supposed to," Yang countered, keeping her voice calm.

Weiss was just impressed her teammate hadn't exploded from the insult. To have a proper conversation with the pureblood, she needed Yang to leave the room.

"I could tell he was ill-mannered from the very second we met," the heiress informed. "It's not just his body language, it's his attitude and outlook on life."

"He's a real bully," Yang continued to explain to Weiss. "He's been a bully since middle school and he has yet to change."

 _Just a bully…_ Weiss weighed her words. _It doesn't sound like he's drunk or murdered any of the students… has he? I need answers… that pureblood could be a real threat to the people living in Beacon._

She found it ironic that she considered him dangerous when they are part of the same species. From the vampire ball, he bragged about his 'catch' just before the party. Even though they were both vampires, he's proven to be more dangerous, while she was more reserved and had morals about drinking humans for food.

The two were not that different, it was just how they handled their urges that separated them the most.

"Is that all you've done?" the heiress questioned. "Bully others?"

Yang grit her teeth from Weiss' choice of words. "'All' you've done…" like bullying wasn't a big deal.

"Yeah," Cardin smirked. "The weak only exist for the strong to pick on."

Yang slammed her fist on the table, her eyes a blotchy red. "Your way of thinking is what causes bloodshed!"

Cardin casually leaned on the table with a devilish grin. "You have _no_ idea."

Yang's face contorted to a fierce snarl, and just before she could lash out, Weiss stopped her with the call of her name.

"Yang."

The blonde hesitantly tore her gaze away from the infuriating bully and focused her attention on her teammate. "Yeah?"

"Give me a moment alone with him," Weiss requested.

"But-"

"Please."

Her tone was almost pleading, and that's what caught Yang's attention, not the word itself. Not knowing how to respond, Yang scowled at the boy and wondered what was going on between the two.

The situation must've been dire since she'd never heard Weiss say 'please' before, or at least attempt to be somewhat nice.

Curiosity was one of Yang's most prevalent traits, so not knowing anything was almost killing her inside. Still, she knew she should respect Weiss' request. All Yang has done so far was strain their relationship, although the fault goes both ways.

"Fine…" Yang reluctantly agreed.

After tightening a fist and gritting her teeth, the blonde glided out the door with her mane flowing behind her. As she did so, the only sound that filled the air were her rhythmic footsteps.

When she was out of sight, Cardin slowly advanced to the heiress. "You want to be alone with me. I knew you couldn't resist."

When Cardin got too close, Weiss took one step backward. "Stop. This is serious."

"Fine," Winchester seethed and halted. "What does the ice queen want to know?"

"Before that…" Weiss turned on her heel to face the propped open door. "Yang!" she suddenly shouted. "I know you're eavesdropping! Leave!"

She knew her teammate pretty well already, so to guess Yang was still there was only natural.

Yang was hiding behind the door and set her jaw. _Damn, for an ice queen she has no chill,_ she thought. _How'd she know I was here?_

"Yang!" she heard Weiss' irritated voice chide.

 _Then again, I'm eavesdropping on their conversation. I should leave._

"Fine!" Yang yelled back and to show she wasn't listening anymore, shut the door.

With a pokerface, Weiss turned around to face the pureblood.

"On to the real business," Cardin sent a lust filled glare and advanced to her.

Before he could lay his hand on her shoulder, she grabbed it and pivoted. Winchester got excited for a moment, thinking she was making a move on him, only to be jabbed in the gut with her pointy elbow. Before he knew it, he was airborne and saw stars on the ceiling until the scowling white-haired girl appeared.

Weiss leaned over him with a menacing glare.

If the situation called for dominance, she would be exactly that.

"I'm the pureblood in charge here," she used her zehn to create a dangerously sharp ice shard and held it against his neck. "Got it?"

Cardin frowned and rubbed his head before getting up. "Got it."

If things escalated any further, Cardin worried Weiss would get her entire family involved in the incident. The last thing he wanted was that. Cardin knew her pureblood family wouldn't be happy if their daughter got hurt.

She actually had a family to lean back on.

While he had no one.

"Tell me," Weiss started after she made the ice shard dissipate. "Have you murdered any students?"

"What?" Cardin asked. "Do you think I'm stupid or something?"

She gave him a look.

"Don't answer that."

"Have you?" Weiss questioned again.

"No," the pureblood answered. "I know better than to drink a human's blood from this school. People would come after me. I do drink human blood, just from no one around here."

Weiss understood he needed actual blood. All vampires do, she just preferred it if she wasn't involved in his business to acquire the food. Especially with how he liked to do things.

"Who do you get it from?"

"Humans no one knows about. Garbage that takes up space. People no one would notice if they vanished."

Weiss grit her teeth and narrowed her eyes. He talked about the human race as if they were lesser beings. Sure, vampires had an edge with fighting ability, but that didn't mean any race was superior.

In her mind that's what it meant. He certainly thought otherwise.

"Since you go out of your way to find suitable humans, why not just eat bread and soup for a while? Wouldn't that suffice for the time being?"

"Heh," Winchester scoffed. "That's _nothing_ compared to the real deal."

He wasn't even trying to control his urges. Human blood was his addiction.

"You're such a pig," the heiress seethed.

"You're no better. You really think those measly blood tablets, soup and bread will last long? We need real blood to survive, not some artificial crap. Which reminds me..."

"What?"

"I saw the half-breed with you," Cardin recalled. "Where is she?"

"It's like you learned nothing from the party," Weiss fumed. "Don't you _dare_ insult her. And don't involve her in this, or there will be consequences."

She tried to appear as intimidating as possible, but he didn't seem bothered in the slightest. Weiss' advantage was that she had a family to depend on, while he was alone in the unforgiving world.

She bested him earlier, but combat wise, Weiss didn't know if she was actually more powerful than him.

"Whatever," he dismissed her threatening tone. "Why the hell are you two here anyways?"

Cardin had always been enrolled in human schools. The people he'd received an education with were the people he'd known for most of his life. If anything, Weiss and Blake slightly disturbed his peace and not the other way around.

"That's none of your business," Weiss replied. "Just leave the people here alone and we won't have any problems."

"That's been the plan all along," Cardin informed. "I'm not as stupid as you think I am. I make sure to cover my tracks."

 _Despicable,_ Weiss thought. _He kills needlessly. He won't change._

When he was met with silence, he began again. "So… how about we go out and-"

"Never, you pig," the heiress glowered and shut him down. "It's not going to happen."

"You will be mine one day," Winchester announced with arrogance. "Our race demands it."

After Weiss opened the classroom door, she glanced behind her to meet his determined gaze. "In your dreams," she spat.

Weiss couldn't stand talking to him for a second longer and focused her attention on the vacant hallway. Not a moment later, Yang turned the corner at the end of the hall.

That was perfect timing. Weiss internally begged for her teammate to hurry up. Another second alone with Winchester would drive her insane.

"Hey!" Yang called. "Can I come in now? I don't wanna be caught ditching by Port…"

"Yes," the heiress held the door open for her teammate. "We're done talking," she easily replied, trying to maintain her composure.

Yang couldn't walk in the room faster.

Lilac eyes scanned her teammate's for any sign of distress. "Did everything go well?"

Weiss looked away from her violet gaze. "I suppose."

The blonde didn't buy it and was about to interrogate Cardin, who was sitting in his seat, but a voice interrupted her.

"I'm back, sorry about that," Port apologized. "Now sit down and we'll talk about your punishments."

After taking their seats, Yang and Weiss drowned out his boring rambling. Of course, with him being Port, he forgot to assign an actual punishment and got lost in his tales of glory instead. Before they knew it, detention was over and they were free to go. They wasted no time and headed back to the room.

On the way there, Yang couldn't help but question Weiss. "What's up with you and Cardin?"

The heiress simply shrugged. "He's just a pervert is all."

"Yeah, but-"

"Yang, I'm not telling you anything, so drop it."

The blonde sighed. "Fine… okay! It's none of my business anyways."

"Right," Weiss nodded. "It's nothing to worry about. Now what do you think Blake and Ruby got us for lunch?" she asked, knowing full well she either got soup or bread.

Yang's mouth started to water. "Oh god I really hope I get a cheeseburger."

"Is that your favorite food?" Weiss asked, hoping to keep the conversation astray from Cardin.

"Anything with meat," the blonde beamed. "But cheeseburgers are my favorite."

"Interesting…"

"What about you?" Yang asked curiously. "What's your favorite food?"

 _There's no way I'm saying soup or bread. They aren't even that good. Think… what's one of the more popular foods humans eat..?_

Without thought, Weiss blurted. "Pizza."

"Pizza?!" Yang looked like she was about to keel over. " _You_ like pizza?!"

"What's the big deal?"

 _Did I make the wrong decision?_

"I didn't peg you for a pizza girl," Yang chuckled.

"I'm not the only one," Weiss tried to defend herself. "A lot of other people like it."

 _I'm positive my research on humans was correct. This shouldn't be a surprising answer._

"That's an understatement. I think everyone in Remnant loves pizza," the blonde stated. "I can honestly say I don't know a single person who doesn't like it."

 _I was right. Good._

Yang gasped at an epiphany. "Hey!"

"What?"

"We should totally order some tomorrow!" Yang beamed. "We can have a pizza night!"

 _Oh no…_

"W-we'll see," the heiress mumbled, not liking the idea of eating vomit.

 _Hopefully she'll forget about it. Blake won't be happy if it happens._

Finally, the two had arrived to their room. Yang quickly turned the knob and they were greeted with a "Welcome back," from their leader.

"How'd it go?" Blake asked the two.

"Boring," the blonde deadpanned. "I'm so glad to be outta there."

The aristocrat looked to her sister for a response, only to receive a wink and a mouthed, "I'll tell you later."

"So what's for lunch?" Yang asked.

"Soup," Ruby informed. "It was Blake's idea."

"Oh, okay," Yang seemed a little downcast.

 _Nice job, Blake,_ Weiss praised internally and gave her vampire sister a thumbs up.

The blood-faunus winked in response.

"What's up, Yang?" Ruby asked. "You look a little sad."

"She really wanted a cheeseburger," Weiss playfully rolled her eyes.

The blonde gasped. "That reminds me!"

 _Oh no._

"We're gonna have pizza tomorrow night!" Yang beamed. "Pizza party!"

"Yes!" Ruby pumped her fist in the air. "I love pizza!"

Blake had a shocked expression and glared at her sister. "Why pizza?" she did _not_ sound amused. Not at all.

"You can thank the princess," the blonde informed. "She went on about how much she loved pizza, so I suggested a pizza night," she said proudly.

"Really?" Now Blake was amused. She was staring at the heiress, perking a curious eyebrow. "I didn't know you liked pizza."

Weiss' eyes widened in shock at the pit she just fell in. She mouthed, "I'm sorry," to Blake.

"Too late," Blake replied out loud.

They were officially screwed.

"What's too late?" Ruby asked.

"Nothing," Blake said. "Come on, this soup isn't going to eat itself."

"She's right! They're getting cold," Ruby agreed.

The four ate their first meal as a team. When they were done, Weiss felt her scroll vibrate. She pulled it out of her pocket and checked to see who was calling.

"Yang."

"Huh?" the blonde was caught off guard from her name being called from her again.

Her teammate's tone was serious and that caught her off guard.

"Do you want to make up for the fact that you got me a detention?"

"Yes!" she answered without thought. "What do you need?"

"I'd like you and Ruby to leave the room for a few minutes. Blake and I have to take a phone call."

Blake's cat ears perked under her bow from the statement. She was hoping the person they'd be talking to was one of their family.

The vampire sisters didn't want the other pair of sisters to know much personal information about them. So if one of their family members was calling, they'd want the humans out of the room.

"That's it?" Yang asked.

It was such a simple thing to do!

"Yes."

Eager to get on her teammate's good side, Yang agreed.

"Okay," the blonde shrugged, she thought Weiss would ask for something much more complicated. "Let's go, Rubes."

"Coming," Ruby got up to follow her sister out the door. "Seeya in a bit!" the door clicked shut and Blake listened for their footsteps to exit the hallway.

After a few seconds, a nod from Blake indicated they were in the clear. Weiss slid the scroll to unlock it and answered the video call. The two sat in the middle of the room and silently prepared for the conversation.

An image of their sister popped up on screen.

"Hey Winter," the vampire sisters greeted in unison.

* * *

 **Welp, that's how detention went. How will they get outta eating human food? Or will they at all? Huehue you'll see soon.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	17. Trust Is Most Important

"Hey Winter!" the vampire sisters greeted in unison.

"Hello sisters," Winter cheerily replied. "How is everything?"

Based on the background of where Winter was seated, the younger siblings could tell she was in her office and more than likely just finished work related to the Schnee Dust Company. There was a certain aura about her, and not her actual aura. She just seemed more chipper than usual.

Blake took a moment to ponder the question and chose her words carefully. "Things could be… worse."

Far worse.

At least their race wasn't exposed to the world, but with how things were going, it was only a matter of time.

"What makes you say that?" Winter asked, her voice full of interest.

"Things were going well until recently," the aristocrat glared at Weiss.

Weiss gave the two a cheeky grin. "Eheh…"

"What did you do this time?" Winter inquired.

The blood-faunus rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed with her sister. "Weiss thought it'd be a great idea to tell the most extroverted person on our team that she loves pizza," she informed, disappointment in her tone. "Now we're apparently having pizza tomorrow night."

"Really?" the pureblood asked, her interest peaked. She wondered why Weiss would say such a thing, but she could think of a few reasons for the lie. "We all know everything tastes horrible besides soup, blood, and bread to us vampires."

The heiress sighed. "Yeah well… When she asked me what my favorite food was, I wasn't going to say bread or soup. Those aren't even that good and it's certainly not something a normal human would say. Of course, blood is out of the question."

Winter's disappointed expression didn't change, her frown more prevalent than ever.

"It's not my fault?" Weiss weakly protested. "Okay, it is, but I want us to be able to fit in here, so I picked one of the more popular foods among humans."

Winter sighed. "I understand. Blending in society is something everyone craves. It's just your luck that you get a pizza night. It hasn't even been a day, has it?"

Blake gave the heiress another glare.

"I'm sorry!" Weiss apologized. "In my defense, the pizza night was the brute's idea."

"Look," Winter's voice got serious, her blue orbs stared into their souls. "If both of you feel like you should eat that pizza, make sure to make it come up later, understand?"

The younger siblings nodded.

"Good," Winter nodded in relief. "It could make you extremely sick or even cause death if you consume too much."

The original plan was to either skip the pizza if they could or make it come back up later. It was nice to know that their intelligent older sister thought the same way. It eased the younger sibling's nerves when they had some form of guidance.

"Got it, mom," Blake teased.

"I'm serious!" Winter chirped in a whiny tone.

Blake and Weiss giggled from their older sister's reaction.

When the laughter died down, Winter continued. "Tell me about your new team. Who's the 'brute' you mentioned?"

"She's my partner," the aristocrat chimed. "Her name is Yang. She's not so bad, she's just very extraverted."

Winter sensed Blake was holding back information.

"What else is there to know about her?"

The aristocrat softly bit her bottom lip, an action the eldest didn't miss. After a sigh, Blake gave in and told her what was bothering her.

"Yang and Weiss argue a lot."

"It's not my fault she's a brute," the heiress replied almost immediately.

"To be fair," Blake began. "You're the one that provokes her most of the time."

Weiss smirked, taking pleasure in her next line. "It's so easy to get her riled up it's ridiculous."

"Weiss," Winter almost seethed. "You need to make an effort to get along with your teammates. Each and every one of them. Yang included."

Weiss almost flinched from the scolding. "It won't be easy to do..." she trailed off, thinking of all the arguments they've already been in.

A smile carved on Winter's lips. Since the younger siblings had been isolated for most of their lives, making friends was understandably nerve-wracking and difficult. Still, the eldest knew her sisters were wonderful to be around, so it shouldn't be too hard for them to form friendships.

"It's easier than you might think. You haven't been on any missions yet, correct?"

"Right," Blake confirmed.

"Teamwork is essential on missions, not only that but anywhere. Trust is the most important aspect of being on a team. If you don't have that, then what's the point?" Winter questioned them.

"You're right," Weiss agreed hesitantly. "I'll make an effort to be less… difficult."

Winter smiled. "That's all I ask. Who is your partner?"

"Her name is Ruby," the heiress informed. "She's eccentric and a dunce, but she shows promise in leading this team."

Although the two got off on the wrong foot, Weiss could easily see her potential as leader. It took a while for Ruby's qualities to shine, and once they reached the heiress, she accepted Ozpin's decision.

"So she's the team leader, huh?" Winter pondered.

"Yes, and she's two years younger than us, which is quite impressive," Weiss said.

"Wow Weiss," Blake chimed in amusement. "That's a lot of praise coming from you."

"Well…" a tint of red appeared on Weiss' cheeks from embarrassment. "It's true."

Ruby was the youngest on the team, and her partner couldn't wait to see what kind of leader she would be in due time.

Winter couldn't help but smile from the news. "I'm glad to hear the team is getting along for the most part."

"They're also sisters," Weiss added.

"Interesting…" Winter seemed to be in deep thought. "How did the initiation itself go?"

"Blake got in trouble with some beowolves," Weiss let the information slip, something Blake didn't want her to do.

Winter gasped. "Are you okay now?"

"Yes, don't worry I'm fine," the blood-faunus assured. "Weiss managed to use the technique you taught us and healed me."

"Aura transfer," Winter said fondly. "The most important thing to learn when becoming huntresses. It's so troublesome only second years get to learn the method."

"Why is that?" Weiss questioned. "If it's so important, then why can't people learn it at a young age like we did?"

"Most people don't have the energy to strain the aura it requires. If performed too early, they could slip into a coma or even die."

"What?!" the two younger siblings shouted in unison.

"Why'd we learn it so early?!" Blake fretted.

Winter had neglected to tell them for this precise reason. She knew the younger siblings would freak out.

"Vampires are different," Winter deadpanned.

"Of course," Weiss rolled her eyes.

Vampires were _always_ different.

"We have aura _and_ zehn," Winter continued. "That's plenty of energy from even birth for us to learn the technique at such a young age, but it's still very taxing to use. This especially depends on the size of the wound."

"Makes sense," Blake said, seemingly deep in thought.

Weiss turned to Blake. "Also, Blake…"

"Yeah?"

Talking about initiation reminded her of something.

"I noticed for the entire initiation you were in full bodyguard mode," Weiss stated. "I know my father brought you here in the first place to guard me, but now you're just my sister. Not my bodyguard."

Winter had the most genuine smile, her eyes started to water.

From the silence, Weiss continued. "I understand that you worry about me, and I worry about you too, but during combat, you need to look out for yourself more often. You could end up getting injured again if you don't pay attention to your surroundings in place of mine."

"R-right," Blake wiped her eyes from the tears starting to form. "I can't say I won't protect you, but I'll try to tone it down a bit… I _will_."

Sensing conviction in her words, Weiss smiled. "That's all I ask."

The two warmly hugged, and Winter pretended to be there too when she placed her arms around her phone, hugging the phone itself.

Weiss was facing the camera and laughed hard from the action. "Winter, have I told you how much of a dolt you are?"

Winter pouted. "I wish I was there to join the group hug."

Blake faced the scroll again after giggling. "Is there anything else you want to know?"

"Now that you mention it," Winter recalled. "I have something to tell you two."

"Which is?" Weiss asked.

"Bear with me when I say this," Winter said.

Blake and Weiss glanced at each other, wondering what it could be.

"Mom and dad are leaving the castle for a couple of years," Winter informed, upon hearing their gasps, she continued. "They said they need a break and to be honest, I agree with them."

"Why?" Blake asked.

"Think about it," Winter said in a serious tone. "They've been alive for so long as vampires. Father has been caught several times in order to provide for us, and this has made us move across the world. There have been many attempts on our lives, and to top it off, he's in charge of the world's largest energy producer."

The pureblood parents had rough lives, so after much thought, the vampire daughters thought they really did deserve a break.

"That… that is a lot," Weiss agreed, her head lowering.

She started to think some of that was her fault.

"Indeed," Winter nodded. "So for now, they are on an extended vacation. Weiss, since you are in school and are too young to run the company, father has entrusted me with it for now."

"Understood," the heiress stated. "If you need help, let father or me know, okay? I'm not completely useless in the field of dust and business."

From that comment, Winter softly chuckled. "Of course."

"Are you alone in the castle?" Blake suddenly asked.

"No," Winter said. "Sadly, no. Qrow is here. He's… he's always here," her tone betrayed her words.

The younger sisters were glad she wasn't completely alone for the years to come. They had grown fond of Qrow and wouldn't want anyone else to be by her side.

Blake narrowed her eyes teasingly. "Don't have too much fun."

"What're you insinuating?" a blush formed on Winter's cheeks.

The younger siblings laughed with mirth until they heard a knock on the door.

"We have to go," Weiss said. "If you have any problems, don't hesitate to call."

"Ditto," Winter smiled. "I'll keep checking on you two, and keep me updated."

"Don't worry, we will," Blake reassured.

Winter gave her a decisive nod. "Love you."

"Love you, too," Weiss and Blake replied in unison.

After that, the younger vampire sisters hung up the video call and briefly smiled at each other.

A knock on the door interrupted the silence, and from the voice, they could easily tell it was Ruby on the other side.

"Do you guys need more time?"

After a nod of encouragement from her sister, Blake got off the floor and opened the door. "No, we just finished."

"Awesome," Yang chirped. "How'd the call go?"

"Very well," Blake smiled fondly, missing her elder sister already.

"What she said," Weiss agreed.

From past experience, Yang knew the two sisters were somewhat secretive, so she decided not to press them about it. Ruby had already learned that trait about them and she wanted to move the conversation along before another fight broke out.

"What do you guys want to do now?" Ruby asked.

Weiss had already sat at her desk and cracked open her textbook. "Homework."

"What?!" Yang yelped. "Port gave us homework!?"

"He gave us assigned readings and questions at the end of each passage," Ruby informed her sister.

"N-no way! On the first day?!" Yang couldn't believe her luck.

"W-would…" Weiss tried to speak, but it came out as incomprehensible.

Blake smirked, knowing Weiss was trying to honor Winter's wishes.

"Would…"

Yang looked at Weiss expectantly, wondering why she was mumbling and trying so hard to say a single word. Her expression was clearly pained and forced. During her muttering, Yang stole a glance at Ruby, thinking maybe her sister knew what was going on, but she only received a shrug.

"Would you like help with the assignment?" Weiss finally managed to force the words out.

Yang stood there in shock and glanced at her teammates, then pointed to Weiss. "Is she okay?"

The blonde was genuinely concerned for her well-being. This wasn't the feisty princess she knew!

"It's not impossible for me to be nice!" Weiss fumed. "Will you take the offer or not?"

"Y-yeah," the blonde accepted. "It was just unexpected."

"Shut up and open your textbook."

"There's the princess I know!"

* * *

Winter sat at her desk when she sighed and put down her scroll. Talking to her sisters always brightened her day, especially when she'd worked for hours on end.

 _Just what was Blake implying? Honestly…_

"Ice queen!"

Winter almost fell out of her seat from the sudden shout. "Wh-what!?"

She knew exactly who it was because of the ragged voice and because they were the only two in the castle. He had left to get a snack, but she didn't think he'd be back so soon.

It was nice every now and then to have some alone time, but without Qrow there something didn't feel right.

Like something was off…

From his presence, she was more irritated that he'd managed to catch her off guard.

Qrow walked in her office and shut the door. "Who were you on the phone with?" he asked, ignoring her previous reaction.

"Blake and Weiss," the pureblood answered. "Why?"

A cocky smirk grazed his lips. "Then why are you blushing?"

"No reason!" Winter frantically replied. "No reason at all. We were just talking about their team."

"Really now?" Qrow perked an eyebrow. He was aware she was trying to change the subject, but put the teasing aside. "Who's on their team?"

"They're sisters named Ruby and Yang," Winter recalled. "So two sets of sisters are on the same team, isn't that interesting?"

The huntsmen unscrewed his flask with a content smirk...

"You have _no_ idea."

... And took a swig.

* * *

 **Oh Qrow you sly, sly bastard.**

 **Yeah Winter! Give 'em a stern talking to!**

 **As you can tell, Winter is OOC. That is because her closest bonds in her life are with her family. Therefore, she has a more carefree attitude when she interacts with them.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	18. The Dreaded Pizza

The next day, team RWBY headed to doctor Oobleck's class, which was later in the afternoon. Thankfully, they were on time today, so they had the whole room to decide who they wanted to sit next to. By luck, there were four seats open by team JNPR.

After exchanging idle chatter, Doctor Oobleck began to speak.

It didn't take them long to realize the man talked faster than the speed of light.

Pyrrha, Ruby, and Weiss tried to jot down notes in an attempt to keep up with the professor. In between notes and scrambling to process his words, Weiss took a few sips of her blood tablet filled water every now and then. However, less than halfway through the lecture, all three found their pencils abandoned on the desks in front of them. Pyrrha, Ruby, and Weiss' wrists started to ache from the strain of writing too fast, so the three opted to listen instead.

From the beginning, Blake knew writing notes would be a losing battle, so she used her enhanced hearing to process what the professor was saying. Her cat ears under her bow constantly flicked back and forth, trying to discern the main points of Doctor Oobleck's lecture.

Sometimes, Blake found listening helped her better than actually writing down information. In this case, she silently thanked her enhanced auditory ability.

Blake gradually tilted her head towards her leader and muttered. "How does he talk this fast? How does anyone talk this fast?"

"No idea," Ruby murmured. "I think the mug he's drinking is full of coffee. Caffeine overdose maybe?"

The blood-faunus couldn't hold back a smirk. "You're one to talk. Face it, you're addicted to cookies."

Low and behold, the leader hid her secret cookie pack underneath the desk so their teacher wouldn't see it. The small cookies were in between her lap, and Ruby glanced up at Blake with a sheepish smile.

"Shhhhh, I can't go a day without these."

Blake smirked and grasped her black bottle. "Neither can I…" there was obvious amusement in her tone, but unlike Ruby, Blake really _couldn't_ go too long without her fix.

Meanwhile, Pyrrha was next to Jaune and was just glad he didn't try to sit next to Weiss. After the heiress showed constant hostility towards the boy, Pyrrha was starting to think even he got the hint.

Pyrrha smiled at the thought of Jaune giving up on Weiss. However, those thoughts made her feel guilty, so the redhead shook her head and went back to listen to the lecture. She didn't listen for too long when she realized Jaune was reading a comic under the desk.

A slight nudge in Jaune's side stole his attention.

"H-huh?"

"Put it away," Pyrrha stated, but not too sternly. "This will probably be the hardest class to study. The professor is difficult to follow."

Thinking she was right, Jaune set the comic down. "You're right, Pyr."

With a faint smile, Pyrrha listened to the remains of the lecture.

Before they knew it, class was over when the bell rang. Everyone packed up to leave the room after idle chatter between the two teams.

Soon, teams RWBY and JNPR reached their rooms and shut their respective doors.

After a few hours, when it was around dinner time, team RWBY stopped working on their assignments to catch a break.

Yang swiveled around in her chair with her hands behind her head."Ughhh," she groaned, obviously seeking her teammate's attention.

Weiss was willing to give it to her. "What is it now?" she sounded a mix of concerned and annoyed.

"Just relieved is all. I got all my homework done!" From the reply, Weiss faintly smiled, which caused Yang to grin. "Now we can celebrate!"

The heiress tilted her head ever-so-slightly. "How?"

A knock on the door.

Yang practically jumped out of her seat. "Pizza party!"

"Is that-" Blake thought out loud.

"Yep!" Yang nodded. "Ruby ordered it ahead of time."

The vampire sisters were speechless.

"I know," Ruby said proudly and pointed to herself. "I"m a genius."

While the Weiss and Blake gulped of nervousness, Yang darted over to the door to give the delivery man currency for the food. The exchange was swift, and before anyone knew it, two boxes of pizza were on their desk.

Steam rose from the box, as if it was taunting the vampires.

Ruby and Yang wasted no time and grabbed some delectable slices. After a few bites, they noticed Blake and Weiss just stared at the food and hadn't moved an inch.

Yang gave Weiss a weird look. "What's the matter, princess? I thought you loved pizza."

"I-I do," the heiress tried to reassure weakly, unconvincingly. "I'm just not that-"

"Just one slice?" Ruby asked. "It's my treat so I don't want it to go to waste."

Weiss was about to retort, but her words stopped dead in their tracks when her azure eyes linked with pleading silver puppy eyes.

 _This isn't fair!_ Weiss internally screamed. _How could I say no to that?_

"Fine," the heiress reluctantly agreed. "Just one slice. Sorry, but I'm not that hungry. Not right now, at least."

If she could buy time to figure out how to make the pizza suddenly disappear, she'd do exactly that. For now, her and Blake were in this together.

"Yay!" Ruby cheered. "I promise this is the best pizza in Remnant!"

Through gritted teeth, Weiss replied. "I'm sure it is."

When Weiss slowly advanced towards to boxes, Blake joined her. The vampire sisters already dreaded the taste. They gulped and with sheer tenacity, picked up the smallest slices they could scavenge.

The vampire sisters continued to stare at the food in their hands until they noticed Ruby and Yang watched them in anticipation.

"What're you waiting for?" Ruby asked. "It'll get cold."

After reassuring glances between the vampire sisters, they took a bite with controlled slowness, cursing their existence.

Ruby and Yang watched them with calculating eyes.

"Well?" Yang asked the pair. "How is it?"

Weiss could only manage thumbs up, not able to speak. For fear if she did, she'd vomit.

By some miracle, Blake somehow sputtered. "It-it's good!"

 _Good?!_ Weiss seethed. _Mom was right._ _This thing tastes like Satan crawled up from the depths of hell and shit on it! Still… How'd Blake manage to speak? She has immense willpower._

"I knew you'd like it!" Ruby beamed while she happily devoured another slice. "Are you hungry too, Blake?"

The heiress could only worriedly check on her sister as she gripped the revolting slice. That gross thing was the cause of their suffering, and she wanted to make it pay dearly.

The aristocrat swallowed a tiny bite. "I-I'm not hungry. I think I'm just gonna e-eat this one slice."

"Are you guys okay?" Yang asked with concern. "You're both… sweating."

"Yes," Blake replied after a deep breath, now more composed than ever.

Meanwhile, Weiss could only stare at her brave sister. How the hell was she talking through the foulness?

The blood-faunus began taking slow bites to avoid upsetting her stomach. Before she knew it, all that remained was the crust, and she was certain she was going to vomit soon even without help.

"You okay, princess?" Yang asked again, noticing she hadn't answered the first time.

"I-I'm fine!" Weiss more or less forced out. "W-who doesn't like pizza?"

That response caused her blonde eyebrow to perk up in suspicion.

The other pair of sisters definitely noticed something was off about the two, but they were more preoccupied with finishing the pizza before it got too cold.

The aristocrat's eating process looked slow and painful and Weiss was not about to deal with that, so she opted a different strategy.

A quicker one.

She glared at the slice in her hand as if it was challenging her.

After a few painful seconds of internal debate, Weiss did something Blake thought she'd never do.

She shoved the entire thing in her mouth.

The blood-faunus' eyes widened and she let out a gasp. "Weiss!?"

"Damn, princess!" Yang was impressed and shocked at the same time. "I thought you weren't hungry!"

When the whole slice was properly in her mouth, Weiss covered her mouth and most of her face with both hands. Hiding her pained expression was top priority and she forced the food down her throat.

She sounded disgruntled and nausea almost seeped over the edge. "That's all I'm eating. Is that okay, Ruby?"

It took all her self-control to not let her voice waver.

"Uh, yeah," Ruby was now a mixture of worry and astonishment. "You don't have to eat anymore."

"Wonderful," Weiss said right before she bolted out the room.

She couldn't help it, her body seemed to run on instinct.

Yang ran outside the door and saw the heiress dart down the hall. "Wait up, princess! Where're you going?!"

There was no reply as the last strand of white hair disappeared behind a corner.

"Stay here," Blake said desperately. "We'll be back," she wasted no time and ran after her sister, almost vomiting herself.

The blood-faunus watched Weiss take a sharp turn in the public ladies' restroom. She followed suit, and by the time she got in there, Weiss had already shut her stall and started to gag over the toilet.

Blake was in a cold sweat as she clutched the toilet seat and dropped to her knees, leaning over the clean bowl. It didn't take much effort to spew the slice up as more gags filled the air. Something as foul as that food shot out of her body in an instant.

Afterward, Blake wiped her mouth with toilet paper and flushed the vomit, but she was concerned when she still heard her sister's gagging. When she was done cleaning her stall, she stood outside her sister's stall with concern.

"Hey," she called. "Are you okay?"

"It…" another gag. "It won't come up…"

"What?!" the blood-faunus screeched. "Unlock the door!"

After the click, Blake rushed to her sister's aid. She didn't know what to do because she'd never been in this kind of situation, so she soothingly rubbed circles on her sister's back, trying to provide any comfort she could. Weiss was grateful she was by her side and was jealous Blake managed to get the food out of her system already.

Labored breathing masked the silence.

It broke Blake's heart to see her sister like this, and she cursed herself for not being able to do anything about it.

That's when she tried to pat Weiss' back several times to force the food up. It reminded her of when people burp babies, except this was more dire.

A few minutes went by in this manner, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't force the awful food to come up and spew into the toilet.

"Here," Blake took her sister's arm and helped her stand. "This isn't working."

"Then what would you suggest we do?" Weiss asked, a single bead of sweat streamed from her forehead down to her cheek.

Without warning, Blake punched Weiss in the gut as forcefully as she could.

The wind was knocked out of her as she gasped and let out a fragile yelp.

"Agh!" Weiss almost dropped to her knees from the sudden blow, but Blake kept her upright. "What… what the hell... was that for?!" she exclaimed, now trying to catch her breath.

"Sorry," Blake apologized. "It's what Winter would've done. That food _needs_ to come back up or you'll get sick."

While the heiress attempted to compose herself, Blake thought of something else.

"Did…" Blake started. "Did you shove your fingers down your throat?"

"Yes," Weiss answered. "That doesn't work. At least when I do it..."

Weiss then got a mischievous smirk when she thought of an epiphany and grinned at Blake.

It might be a little payback.

"What…?" Blake asked, and then put the pieces together. "Oh… oh no. I am NOT doing that!" she was starting to regret bringing it up in the first place.

"Blake just…" Weiss trailed off. "Just shove your fingers down my throat!"

The aristocrat backed away in disgust. "N-no way!"

"Do you want me to get sick?" Weiss asked. "It'll be over and done within a few seconds!"

If Blake refused, she'd be the bad guy. Her sister would undoubtedly get sick without assistance. If Blake helped, there was a chance it would be like Weiss never ate that pizza.

Blake gulped when she knew there was no alternative method. She started to do deep breathing exercises to prepare herself for what was to come.

"What're you doing?" Weiss asked in amusement.

"It takes mental preparation to do something this gross," the aristocrat almost vomited all over again at the mere thought and continued the inhaling exercises. "Lean over the toilet. I want this to be quick and there's no way I'll get covered in your vomit."

Even though Blake said that, she knew there'd be no way to avoid the vomit if her sister managed to hack it up.

Weiss nodded, silently encouraging her sister to go through with it. After hovering over the clear bowl, Blake knelt next to her.

Amber orbs met azure. "I'm not going to give you a warning."

"Okay-"

The bathroom door opened without them taking notice.

What sounded like Nora skipped in while she hummed a chipper tune. There was another presence that joined her, but they stayed outside the stall Nora was going to use.

Before Nora could open the door to use the toilet, Pyrrha heard constant gagging and saw two people on their knees in one of the stalls.

"Nope."

She then grabbed Nora, who was about to take a step toward the stall and dragged her out of the bathroom.

Once the door shut, Blake pulled her fingers out of her sister's mouth. "...Who was that?"

"N-no idea," the heiress replied, her throat hoarse. "But this isn't working."

Blake grabbed her sister's arm to help her stand. "Our teammates are probably worried. We need to get back soon."

Weiss nodded. "Yeah, we should."

The aristocrat couldn't stop worryingly gazing at her sister. Upon noticing this, Weiss gave her a faint smile.

"It was just one slice. The effects can't be that bad."

There was a pit in Blake's stomach from the guilt of not being able to do anything, but she ultimately thought that Weiss was right. After Weiss gave her sister's hand a reassuring squeeze, they walked out of the stall.

Of course, Blake wasted no time and went straight to the sink to wash her hands. No matter how hard she tried, the water could only get a little warm as she scrubbed them vigorously, wanting to forget about what she just did.

"The water's not hot enough!"

Weiss got a sly smirk at Blake's reaction. After she washed her own hands, she saw the chance to tease her.

"You sure that warm water doesn't remind you of my warm throat?"

"Stop," the blood-faunus almost pleaded.

That earned a faint chuckle from Weiss. "Are you done?"

"Yeah, come on. Let's head back."

The two had finally made it back to their room and were greeted with humble smiles.

"Hey guys," Yang addressed. "What happened? Everything okay?"

"I wanted to get some of that red tea," the heiress replied calmly, trying not to show she was nauseous. "You know how addicted I am to that stuff. I wanted to wash it down along with the pizza."

The blonde's eyes narrowed suspiciously, an eyebrow perked. "Uh-huh..."

Blake wasn't surprised how quickly her sister thought on her feet. "She's good now, but we're going to bed."

She only said that to avoid the subject as soon as possible.

"That's right," Ruby remembered. "It's pretty late."

Then again, it actually was late in the evening.

After what happened, the vampire sisters were left thoroughly exhausted, so the thought of crawling into bed now was something they weren't opposed to.

After changing into their pajamas, each member went to their respective beds before Blake turned off the lights.

Even though the vampires were drained, sleep was a difficult prize for them to achieve, especially with apprehension clawing their minds.

* * *

" **You're both… sweating," cracks me up every time. Oh god. Let's just be glad that pizza is fucking amazing.**

 **Pyrrha was with Nora because I dunno if you noticed, but some girls travel in packs to the bathroom. Since Nora is social, I figured she'd bring a friend along. Good thing she did, too. Otherwise that would've been an awkward convo.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	19. The Effects

Lazy beams of light trickled through the windows. It would have been a nice way to wake up, but no matter how much Blake tried, she couldn't fall back asleep.

She elected to lay in her bed in silence. However, as time ticked by, she grew restless.

She'd spent the night tossing and turning, worried for her sister. Scared of what she might find, she cautiously slipped out of her bed without a sound. To see if Weiss was sick, Blake persevered over to her bunk.

Amber eyes scanned the dozing vampire and took in every detail.

Her white hair was frazzled and like a pool all around her, her face contorted in distress, but what concerned Blake the most was when she noticed Weiss' face was flushed. The sickly pallor provided competition for Ruby's cape, which was worrying, considering Weiss is the palest person Blake's ever known. With hesitation, she placed the back of her hand on her forehead. From the result, Blake's cat ears flattened under her bow.

 _Oh no... the human food gave her a fever…_

Unbeknownst to Blake, Ruby started to stir. Through her bleary silver eyes, there was a black figure worryingly gazing down at her partner.

After sitting up and wiping the tired from her eyes, it wasn't hard to see the person was Blake. "Blake," Ruby whispered. "What's wrong?"

The leader expected at least some sort of sound, but received no response from her teammate. Blake was too deep in thought to even notice she'd woken up.

Thinking the worst, Ruby hopped out of her top bunk to better understand the situation. She stood next to Blake and glanced down at Weiss, noticing her face was red, and some cold beads of sweat had collected on her forehead.

"Is she okay?"

It was slightly startling to hear a voice suddenly directly next to her sensitive ears, so Blake flinched.

"Sorry," Ruby apologized. "I didn't mean to scare you."

The blood-faunus could only spare Ruby a glance, and then her eyes trailed down to her sister again.

"Is she okay?" Ruby repeated.

"She's sick…" Blake trailed off.

"Hey," Ruby could tell her teammate was deeply troubled and placed a gentle hand on her back. "It's not your fault, okay?"

Blake's poker face never faded and she answered with a nod. It was a weak, unconvincing nod, like she blamed herself for causing the heiress to fall ill.

They did everything they could to make Weiss vomit, but nothing worked. In her heart, Blake knew it wasn't her fault, but she still felt guilty for not being able to do anything.

The two stared at their sleeping teammate with worry, wondering if they could do anything for her.

It didn't take long for Yang to feel the troubling atmosphere. All their talking made it hard to sleep. She sat up in her bed. "Why're you guys up so early? We still have a few minutes to sleep," she said tiredly after a yawn.

"Weiss is sick," Ruby informed.

From the news, Yang leapt out of her bunk and joined the three, all traces of her being fatigued now gone. "What?" she sounded alarmed and had a hint of force in her tone.

From Yang's reaction to the news, a small smile crept on Ruby's lips. She'd _never_ seen Yang jump out of bed so fast.

"Don't worry, Blake," Ruby tried to comfort her. "She'll rest all day today, okay? No classes for her."

"Of course," the aristocrat agreed. "Thank you, Ruby."

After Yang pressed her hand on Weiss' sweltering forehead, she instantly recoiled.

The discovery sent Yang into a slight panic. Her teammate was always cold, and she even sported a cold attitude sometimes. She was dubbed the 'ice queen' for a reason, but currently, the nickname didn't suit her scorching teammate.

"Jeez, what happened?" Yang fretted. "Was it the pizza? I remember she didn't look too good after she ate it."

"It couldn't have been," Ruby shook her head. "We'd be feeling it since we ate it, too."

The blonde bit her bottom lip, concern tinged her voice. "Then why's she like this?"

"Some people just get sick," Blake chimed. "It happens."

Of course, the line came out rehearsed. Blake had all night before to think of possible scenarios for this morning. She came up with excuses in case Weiss actually did get sick from the pizza. Excuses kept piling up in her mind.

One by one...

That one was actually number two in the line-up in her head.

It seemed like the most plausible, given their situation.

Naturally, Blake couldn't tell them about a vampire's diet. She didn't like lying to them, and she justified in her mind she had no choice.

Technically, she really didn't have a choice.

That was the worst part.

"That's true," Yang agreed. "Probably just bad luck."

"Yeah," the leader replied. "And about classes, as Weiss' leader and partner, I'll be the one to stay and look after her."

"We're countin' on you, Rubes," Yang replied, still worriedly checking the heiress.

There was no way Blake would just abandon her sister. "But-" her eyes widened when she felt a feeble, cold grasp around her wrist. Her gaze trailed down to Weiss, who was now awake and her eyes were misted over. Despite her forehead being on fire, her hands were as frozen as ice.

"Blake… I'll be fine. I'm counting on you to take notes for me... okay?"

Concern shot through the blood-faunus' entire being. She hadn't seen her sister this weak since they were kids back when they were more prone to illnesses.

In the past, the vampire sisters needed all the assistance they could get in order to get better. As a result, Blake would feel more guilty if she left Ruby alone with Weiss.

"Sorry, Weiss," Blake murmured and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "I'm staying."

Weiss' eyes were growing half-lidded when she replied. "Blake…"

The interaction caused Yang's heart to hurt. All Weiss wanted was for her sister to stop worrying. It was obvious to Yang that Weiss felt guilty for making Blake feel guilty. This spiral of feelings wouldn't do any good, so Yang decided to be the voice of reason, especially since she could see Weiss didn't have the energy to argue.

"Blake," the blonde called. "I say you trust Rubes with this. It's clear to me that the princess doesn't want you to miss class because of her."

"Will you be okay if I leave?" Blake wanted to clarify. Leaving didn't sit right with her. "You sure?"

"I'll be asleep," the heiress replied after a yawn.

After a sigh, Blake gave in. "Alright. We'll leave her to you, Ruby."

The aristocrat knew her sister was a strong person. She wasn't about to insult her pride and reluctantly gave in to her wishes.

"Don't worry guys, she's in good hands," Ruby reassured. "Now hurry or you'll be late."

Blake and Yang gasped.

"You're right!" Yang yelped.

They rushed to finish their morning rituals. Before Blake left, she swept her fingers through the snowy tresses to provide even an ounce of comfort.

"I'll be back before you know it."

Her only reply was a faint hum.

Blake propped open the door and kept her voice soft. "We'll be back in about an hour."

"Get better, princess," Yang added before the door shut.

During the commotion, Ruby had already set up a chair next to her partner's bed. Keeping a keen eye on her was her top priority at the moment, besides getting her better.

Before Weiss' icy pools could vanish behind heavy eyelids, Ruby's voice jogged her awake.

"Hold on, I want to check your temperature."

"Fine," the heiress grumbled. The only thing she wanted was to rest, so the quicker this was, the better.

After rummaging around in the first aid kit, the leader finally found the tool she needed. She gently placed the thermometer in her teammate's mouth and thankfully, received no protest. After the beep, the number was abnormally high. High enough to cause panic.

"102 degrees?!" Ruby couldn't help but yelp. "Weiss! You need to go to the infirmary!"

"Ruby… I'll be okay after some rest. So please just… be quiet."

Her voice was laden with enervation. Ruby was impressed her partner was even able to finish her sentence. Just hearing it made her tired. Ruby highly doubted just sleep could cure her, but she didn't want to anger her teammate or make her feel worse. Reluctantly, she gave in… for now.

Ruby pouted and couldn't help but be a little frustrated from the response. "Fine, but if you get any worse I'm taking you there with or without permission," her only response was the deep rhythm of her partner's breathing. Seeing she was already asleep, she muttered. "You're so stubborn."

 _Still,_ Ruby thought. _That's what makes you, you._

The leader got a cold cloth and gently brushed the girl's damp bangs aside. She then set the cool cloth on Weiss' sweltering forehead. After a few minutes of sitting next to her and providing company, Ruby realized there was wasn't much she could do for her. Weiss was in a deep slumber and couldn't request anything.

So, Ruby decided to get some assignments finished since she was doing nothing now that her partner was asleep.

Before going over to her desk, Ruby wrapped Weiss in the sheets. The hope was to insulate heat as much as possible. The end result had the heiress in a blanket burrito.

It was odd Weiss hadn't stirred from the endeavor, so Ruby figured she really was as exhausted as she sounded.

With a smile at her dozing teammate, Ruby got to work on her assignments. After a few minutes of scribbling down answers to the questions, Ruby found herself distracted. There was no way she could focus on her assignment while her friend was sick, so she decided to check on her.

There was no change in her condition and she continued to sleep soundly. In fact, Weiss hadn't moved an inch.

As the leader neared her teammate to properly check on her, or to confirm she was still alive since she was deathly still, she accidentally kicked a pencil that was on the floor. This caused Weiss to stir and furrow her eyes. Ruby muttered under her breath for her negligence, and it took a few seconds for the familiar bleary azure pools to register the worried leader.

"Hey," Ruby greeted softly. "Sorry I woke you. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," Weiss lied.

Truth be told, she'd been getting worse as the minutes ticked by. Her plan was to wait out the sickness until Blake got back so she could tell her she needed some blood.

Not blood tablets.

Human blood.

She was willing to do anything in order to avoid biting Ruby.

Being ill exploited a vampire's weakness and Weiss wasn't about to give in to her urges. All she needed was for Ruby to stay as far away from her as possible. She thought she'd be able to handle an hour, but this was more of a challenge than she'd originally thought.

"Do you need some water?" Ruby asked.

"N-no," Weiss tried to steadily reply, but her throat was dry and hoarse. She cursed herself for the mistake.

Ruby suppressed a giggle from the response, even when her partner was sick she was stubborn, not that she was surprised. "I'll be right back."

 _Don't get near me,_ Weiss internally pleaded as she watched her leader bolt back over with a glass of water in hand. _I don't know if I can…_

The heiress found herself staring at Ruby's neck, her fangs suddenly popped out.

Immediately, her hands covered her mouth to hide the tiny daggers.

"Weiss?" Ruby tilted her head in confusion. "You alright?"

 _We just got to Beacon. There's no way I'll mess this up._

Just when Weiss felt her eyes warp red, she pulled the blankets over her entire body and face, her eyes squeezed shut.

"I'm fine!" she replied a little frantically. "Just set the glass aside and let me sleep."

 _Blake… hurry…_

"But I got medicine, too," Ruby informed. "You need to take some since your fever is really high. Like... _really_ high."

Human medicines typically don't work on vampires. Often, the drugs could actually make a sick vampire's symptoms even worse. Rarely had human medicines ever worked in vampire's immune systems.

"I'll take it later," Weiss groaned.

Dust, it took a lot of effort to speak. Not only was she fighting her vampiric urges, but she was also very ill. If only she could get some alone time. Then again, there's no way Blake would let that happen.

If she refused the medicine, Ruby would undoubtedly think that would just be idiotic and question her. Since Weiss said she'd take it later, there was hope she'd at least take it, and that'd ease Ruby's nerves for the time being. In reality, Weiss planned to throw away the drugs when her partner wasn't looking.

"Weeeissss?" Ruby was confused from the reply. She set the glass and medicine down. "You sure you're okay? I really think you should at least take some medicine. Don't you want to get better?"

"Later…" was all she managed to force out.

If only her leader would leave her alone!

Ruby got the hint and gave up on the medicine, but then thought of something else to help her teammate. "Do you want something to eat? Like porridge or soup? I'm sure food'll make you feel better."

Why did her dunce of a leader have to be so kind?

This distance certainly wasn't helping. Ruby was practically hovering over her.

She could smell Ruby's delicious blood…

"I'm fine," the heiress choked out. "Let me sleep."

 _Get away from me. Don't get close… I have to keep myself in check and this dolt isn't making it easy._

Even though Ruby offered her food, just the thought of eating made her more nauseas. Soup is an option, but the heiress was sure she wouldn't be able to stomach anything.

The leader heaved a sigh.

If only Blake warned her Weiss was even more stubborn when she was sick.

"Alright then," knowing she wouldn't budge, Ruby opted to go back to studying.

Before she left her side, she casted a concerned gaze to the blankets that covered her teammate's entire body. The only sign Weiss was still there were a few white strands protruding from the covers.

Several more minutes past and the leader had finished her assignment. Now with nothing else to do, she decided to check on her partner again.

She leaned over the bottom bunk, surprised to see a rapid rise and fall of the blankets. Ruby hastily pulled down the sheets and discovered her partner was panting harshly through her mouth. With worry, she pressed her hand against the girl's forehead again. Instantly, she recoiled from how sweltering it felt compared to an hour ago.

"Ohhhh Weiss!" Ruby shrieked and she made her decision. "I-I'm taking you to the infirmary."

Ruby knew Weiss may not appreciate it, but at least she gave her a warning earlier. Ruby nodded to herself in reassurance, telling herself that this was the right thing to do for her friend.

Her only answer was ragged breathing, so the leader took that as her cue to unwrap the heiress from the blankets. After gently coaxing the weak girl in her arms, she secured her bridal style. To protect her sick friend from the cold, Ruby swung her signature red cape around Weiss to shield her from any ailments. She adjusted the hood and gave it a light tug over Weiss' head before heading to the door.

"Hang in there, partner," she murmured.

She opened the door and when she was almost down the hallway, there was a shout from behind.

"Wait!"

* * *

 **Weiss is in trouuuuuubleeeee. Temptation may be devastating~**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	20. Resisting

"Wait!"

Ruby stopped dead in her tracks and turned around to the voice.

"Blake?"

Her chest was heaving slightly, and her cheeks were tinted a slight red, which meant Blake must've ran back to the room.

Her worried amber eyes fixed on her sleeping sister, who was in Ruby's arms. She didn't like the fact that her leader didn't send her a text message to inform her that she was taking Weiss somewhere.

"Where are you taking her?" Blake questioned with a hint of force.

If there was one thing Ruby did right, it was the fact that she tried to keep the heiress engulfed in warmth. The signature red cape was draped around her, which prevented the chills that had been ailing her.

There were many downsides in this situation for the vampires. The most dire, however, was that there was one place they needed to avoid at all costs.

"The infirmary," Ruby informed. "She's getting worse every second, even as we speak she-"

The infirmary.

"She can't go to the infirmary," the aristocrat said sternly.

"Why not?" Ruby asked levelly.

"She just can't," Blake offered a weak protest. "Give her to me and we can go to our room."

When vampires are sick they are more prone to lose control over their urges, so the place she wanted Weiss to be was as far away from most humans as made the situation even worse was that human medicines don't work on vampires. Often, the drugs could cause a sick vampire's symptoms to worsen.

"No," Ruby yanked away, which elicited a whimper from the girl in her arms. "She needs medical attention!"

Blake's cat ear slightly flicked from the weak sound that emanated from Weiss. "Ruby, I'm only going to say this one more time," golden orbs flared in anger, her tone lowered threateningly. "Give her to me."

For the first time, Ruby was a little intimidated by her. The leader tried to understand why Blake wanted to go back to the room, but could only see the benefits of bringing her ill teammate to the infirmary. Thinking this was the right decision, Ruby didn't budge an inch.

"I'm sorry, Blake," Ruby tucked Weiss into her chest protectively. "I can't do that."

"What?" she hissed.

Ruby stood her ground. "I know you care about her, but don't you see? Getting her treatment will get her better sooner."

"You don't get it!" the blood-faunus lost all her composure and reached out for the heiress.

Ruby slightly gasped from the sudden action and stayed composed, jumping back a few feet. This caused another weak whimper to slip out from the limp teammate in her arms.

"Then explain!" Ruby ordered.

"Guys!" a new voice shouted. "You're making her feel worse!"

Sometime during the argument, Yang had appeared and wanted to stop the bickering as soon as possible. She'd be a fool if she missed her teammate's deteriorating condition. It wasn't hard to hear and see the signs of distress Weiss emitted, even while she was sleeping. Yang wouldn't forgive herself if she allowed a stupid argument to cause the heiress to feel worse.

Ruby looked down and noticed her partner's breathing had gotten more ragged over the course of a few minutes. Weiss' heartbeat slammed against Ruby's ribcage. She was so caught up in the conversation that she missed the thundering vibrations. It was also like holding a heating pad, didn't weigh anything and hot to the touch. It was in that moment the leader realized her sister's words rang true.

"Tell me why, Blake," Ruby didn't want to start a fight. "Why can't she go to the infirmary?"

Ruby's voice almost cracked with misery from the question. Seeing her partner like this sent a pang in her heart. All she wanted was for Weiss to get better, and soon.

Blake bit her bottom lip, her gaze rested on her sleeping sister. There was no way she could tell Ruby the truth: that _their_ medicine wouldn't work, so she devised a plan.

"She's scared of hospitals more than anything. If we take her there, it would make her feel even worse."

 _That's technically not a lie._

It wasn't a lie, and the revelation would hopefully get them out of this mess. Blake kept her fingers crossed. Every second without Weiss in her arms was a second closer to being exposed as vampires.

Full of worry, Ruby glanced down at the dozing heiress seemingly in understanding. "Why didn't you just say so?"

"She doesn't like people knowing about it," Blake admitted, her worried gaze on Weiss' red face. "Now please give her to me."

"No," Yang cut in. "You know what? No."

"Huh?" Blake was baffled by her partner's words.

"Neither of you get to hold the princess," Yang decided. "Not after that argument. Give her to me."

Silver eyes trailed to Blake, and after she received a nod, Ruby gave in. "Okay," she sighed.

The only reason why Blake was okay with it was so that they could get back to the room immediately. She got what she wanted, so she didn't want to push it.

Deliberate slowness was crucial when transferring Weiss to Yang. No one wanted to wake their resting teammate, for fear if they did, that'd make her feel worse. The red cape around her made it hard for Yang to adjust the heiress in her arms. While she wrapped a protective arm around her teammate's frail waist, Yang made sure to keep her head against her shoulder. When she was finally secured, Yang couldn't help but think she weighed as much as a five-year-old.

The worry etched on her sister's face made more sense to her now. Yang was basically a portable heater, but right now, Weiss could easily provide competition in that aspect.

The blonde worriedly glanced down at her. "Alright, back to the room we go," carefully, she took controlled steps to not move as much to avoid waking Weiss.

The three teammates headed down the hallway and it didn't take long for Yang to notice Weiss tense in her arms. Shortly after Weiss was transferred to a different person, her body stiffened when a foreign smell lingered in her nose. The aroma was unfamiliar and that made her nervous.

 _Such a pleasant scent… and it's not the blood. It's like lemonade… Who does it belong to...?_

She pried her eyes open to figure out the mystery. It didn't take her long to realize she was being carried by Yang. She didn't have the strength to look up, but the straying blonde hair and comforting arms were a dead giveaway.

She recognized that as Yang's scent.

Biting her for blood was tempting, especially when she was this close, but Weiss simply didn't have the energy to try. Just opening her eyes totally drained her.

Yang noticed partial blue escaped Weiss' half-lidded eyes and she looked down at her in concern. "Hey sleepyhead," she greeted softly. "Awake already?"

Even in Weiss' state, she managed to reassure Yang that she was alright and gave her a faint smile before her eyelids grew heavy. Yang could only stare at her with worry, helplessness creeping in her body. It was heartbreaking to see her force a smile like that when she was the opposite of fine.

Weiss felt completely safe in Yang's strong, protective arms and it only took her body a few seconds to shut down, all traces of anxiety vanished and just like that, she went limp, which prompted Yang to pick up the pace.

"H-hey!" Ruby yelped when her partner closed her eyes. "You sure she'll be okay?"

All Blake knew was that there was no way they could go to the nurse's office. She could think of a plan if she stalled for time.

"Put her in bed," the aristocrat demanded, although she was stern, frantic snuck in her tone.

Ruby twisted the doorknob and opened the door. After that, Yang rushed to Weiss' bunk and gently laid her down, careful not to jostle her. After she pulled up the blankets, she made sure the red hood kept protecting Weiss' head and gave it a light tug. Like before, Ruby then wrapped her ill teammate in the sheets like a burrito.

Meanwhile, Blake sat next to her vampire sister and held her overheated hand.

Before, Ruby set the thermometer on the nightstand, so she grabbed it and carefully stuck it in Weiss' mouth. After the beep, she took it out and read the number.

"Ah!" Ruby yelped. "104?! No, this isn't good!"

Yang had never heard her sister sound so distraught. "What?! What's wrong, Rubes!?"

"Her temperature rose two degrees since this morning! It shouldn't be this high unless her body is fighting an infection!" Ruby couldn't believe the number. "Whatever's wrong it's possibly life-threatening!"

Blake pondered her thoughts while she gripped Weiss' limp hand.

 _One slice was too much. Dammit, Weiss! We aren't doing something like this ever again!_

"Blake," Yang chimed, her tone earnest. "She needs a doctor. Hell, she needs the emergency room."

The blood-faunus narrowed her eyes in thought.

 _It's this bad, huh?_ Blake pondered as she squeezed still hand. _We went too far. There's no way we can go to a hospital. That's out of the question. Blood tablets more than likely won't have an effect. Then what would heal her? Think, Blake… her life is in danger!_

There was a slight twitch from one of Weiss' fingers, and that's when Blake looked up at her sister. Weiss managed to groggily open her eyes to meet Blake's in a tormented gaze.

There was a tint of red in those azure orbs, and that's when it hit her.

 _She needs human blood! How could I be so stupid? It was so obvious!_

Before Blake could act on the epiphany, Weiss began to cough pitiful bouts.

"Weiss?!" Ruby's voice raised in alarm. She was there in a heartbeat and set a gentle palm on her partner's knee.

The blood-faunus gripped her sister's hand even tighter. A bead of sweat rolled down her face as she helplessly watched her sister continue to weakly cough.

The coughing fit had stopped after several agonizing seconds, and Weiss closed her eyes directly afterwards, still panting harshly.

A few weak whimpers of pain slipped out, and Yang couldn't watch for a second longer.

"Blake!"

Yang was angry and frustrated, like she would physically fight her partner to get Weiss to a hospital if it came down to it.

The aristocrat devised a plan so that wouldn't happen.

"Ruby, I need you to go get some soup. Yang, get as much bread as you can gather."

"That won't make her feel better," Yang stated.

"Please!" Blake shouted, but then remembered she was asking for a favor and dipped her head. "Please…"

The sisters were shocked from the tone Blake used. They'd never seen her so distressed. Blake was Weiss' sister, so they gathered she had to have good reasoning for refusing medical attention. Watching her cough was the last straw, and they were willing to do whatever they could to make their teammate healthy again.

"Okay," Ruby gave in. "But if she's not better soon I'm taking her to the infirmary by force if I have to."

"If _we_ have to," Yang corrected.

There was obvious conviction in their eyes, and Blake had no doubt they would follow through if it came down to it.

"Trust me," Blake squeezed Weiss' hand tighter. "It'll work. I promise."

"You better keep that promise," Ruby said.

She received a simple nod.

"Let's go, Rubes!" Yang grabbed her sister's arm and they bolted out the door.

To make sure they were gone, Blake glimpsed down the hallway. Once she was certain she was in the clear, she got on the floor and glided her hands under her bed. Soon enough, she pulled out the secret backpack they kept stocked with blood tablets and emergency supplies. Sadly, there was no human blood in the backpack, which would've been perfect…

Things were looking rough and she didn't have much time.

 _I need to beat them back._

After emptying the backpack, she grabbed some ice dust that was once in the bag.

 _Please work._

The blood-faunus shattered the ice dust inside the bag, which turned it into a mobile refrigerator. Ice enshrouded the inside of the backpack, but not the outside. It was perfect for storing goods and keeping them fresh without outsiders knowing what was inside.

Blake almost pumped her fist in the air at the small victory.

 _Yes!_

After swinging it around her back. she took Weiss' hand and spoke calmly. "I'll be right back, my lady. I promise you will get better," she lightly pecked her scorching forehead.

In the past, she called Weiss 'my lady,' which was the proper way to address a female pureblood. It took her years to break the habit and now she used the term more dearly, to reassure her sister that everything would be alright. Even though Weiss wasn't listening, it was another way to remind her that keeping their vampire existence a secret was her top priority, besides getting her better.

The aristocrat took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She vanished in thin air, thankful her vampiric ability allowed her to teleport in times like this. She was also glad she sent her other teammates in the opposite direction, the cafeteria. It was sly work, but it was necessary.

Within a second, Blake appeared just outside the infirmary doors. It didn't take long for the lingering puff of black smoke to dissipate afterwards. Wasting no time, she headed inside. Thankfully, the staff was on break, which left the room vacant.

 _Perfect timing._

The blood-faunus reached the refrigerator and found what she was looking for in the very back.

 _Mom came through._

Their mother had provided some blood bags in advance to prepare for their arrival. It was easy to do because ironically, she used to be a nurse.

With expert speed, Blake snatched two of the bags and shoved them in her backpack, all the while making sure there were no straying eyes watching her every move.

When she determined it was clear, she scanned the room again. She was confident that she could use her zehn ability once more, but then a sudden noise stopped her in time.

"What brings you here, Miss Schnee?"

"Headmaster Ozpin," Blake greeted, trying to remain composed. "Weiss is, uh, not feeling well."

The headmaster stood just outside the infirmary's door. There didn't seem to be suspicion in his eyes, so Blake took that as a good sign.

"Tell her I give my regards," Ozpin dismissed.

"Yes sir," Blake speed walked out the door and headed down the hall. After that encounter, she wasn't too keen on using her ability in case someone was watching.

He watched her escape down the hallway and he smirked, taking a sip of his mug. After that, he murmured to himself.

"I understand your worries, Miss Schnee, but trust must be earned…"

* * *

"I'm here!" Blake practically burst through the door and then locked it.

Then, she darted over to her sister's bunk with the backpack secured.

"Weiss, Weiss, I need you to wake up," she put her hand on her cheek, but that didn't cause her to stir.

With a plan in mind, Blake unzipped the backpack and pulled out one of the blood bags. It didn't even take a nanosecond for Weiss' red eyes to fly open. She shot up like a rocket and her hands desperately reached for the blood.

It was true her body was fatigued, but more than anything, it craved blood. Now that her other teammates were gone, Weiss allowed her urges to overtake her.

"I need you to calm down," Blake advised as she kept it out of reach. "What would Ruby and Yang say if they came in here to see you covered in blood?"

It took all the self-control Weiss had not to pounce. After a deep breath, Weiss closed her eyes to compose herself. Blake knew she was trying her best, and kept her steady in her arms. Once she calmed down, Blake tilted the bag and fed the blood to Weiss, who effectively drained the entire thing within five seconds.

Not a single drop remained.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm much better. Thank you, Blake."

After saying that, Weiss licked her lips clean of the blood and savored the aftertaste.

As proof that the treatment worked, Weiss' red eyes had shifted back to their natural azure. Her tiny daggers called teeth also retracted, but she still looked red in the face.

The aristocrat smiled from the result. She looked better already. Relief washed over her in waves. She had never seen Weiss so ill, so to see her much better was like a huge pressure was lifted off her shoulders.

"You sure you don't need more? There's one more bag in here," Blake patted the backpack gratefully.

"I'm sure. You need blood, too, so drink up."

"If you say so," Blake smirked. She happily obliged and cautiously opened the bag.

After she eagerly downed it, Blake just sat there with a genuine smile. "Wow…"

"What?"

"It's been a while."

"Yes, it's been a long time."

Weiss recalled the last time they drank human blood was about a week before they left for Beacon.

Their diet was mainly the artificial blood tablets, so real blood was more like a treat. The vampire sisters only drank human blood when their urges got too great, went too long without it, or other unique circumstances.

"Listen," Blake scooted closer. "Ruby and Yang will come back with soup and bread. They're going to think that that's what cured you."

"Understood," Weiss replied. "I'll act like I gradually recovered."

"I mean, you're still sick," Blake informed. "You just look much better," to make sure she was still ill, Blake leaned forward to feel her forehead. It was much better than it had been previously, but it was still warm. "You still have a fever, but it's not nearly as bad as before."

"Thank you again, Blake," the heiress smiled.

The blood-faunus returned the grin and then realized what was still wrapped around her sister.

"Ruby leant you her cape."

"Huh?" Weiss lifted her arms and was surprised to see the red fabric. "That dunce…"

"It looks warm."

"It's soft too," Weiss murmured fondly. "But it's not mine," the last thing she wanted to do was take it off, but she carefully removed the fabric, knowing it must be important to their leader. She didn't want to even begin to think about what would happen if blood accidentally dumped on the beloved fabric.

Blake gently set the cape on Ruby's bunk and returned to her sister's side. Immediately after, she fluffed the pillows behind her. Since Weiss still looked exhausted, Blake helped coax her to lie down. After that, she wrapped her sister in the blankets without receiving any protest.

"Let's not do that ever again," Weiss couldn't help but chuckle, her hand gripped her comforting sister's.

Blake faintly giggled and squeezed her hand back.

"Let's not."

* * *

 **That was a roller coaster xD. Now you've seen the effects when vampires eat human food.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	21. It's My Turn!

The next morning, the team woke up hoping Weiss was back to feeling one-hundred percent again. Naturally, Ruby and Yang were baffled that the heiress was now in almost perfect health. The sisters had never seen someone so sick, so the fact that she was back to normal in less than twenty-four hours was astonishing.

To make sure she wasn't being deceived, Ruby had stuck the thermometer in her partner's mouth. Weiss begrudgingly allowed it to ease her leader's nerves. When Ruby read that she had a perfect temperature, she almost couldn't believe her eyes.

Yang reacted the same way, but with the vampire sisters' reassurances, the team headed to class.

It came as no surprise to Blake that Weiss was back to normal and was eager to go to class. It wasn't just any class, it was combat class with Glynda Goodwitch.

As they made their way to the room, slight anxiety filled their bodies. None of the team members had been in a combat class before. Up until this point, they'd just learned about combat and sparred on their own or with friends. Now their abilities would be put to the test.

"Who would'a thought…" Yang murmured.

"Thought what?" Blake asked.

Yang glanced at the heiress, who kept her eyes forward. "That good ol' fashioned bread 'n soup could be such a good remedy."

"I still can't believe it," Ruby was deep in thought, like she actually _couldn't_ believe it.

The leader knew certain foods could cure illnesses, but she certainly didn't buy that bread and soup fixed a 104-degree fever. A fever that high had the potential to melt her brain. Ruby thought it'd take at _least_ a couple of weeks for her partner to recover from the illness.

To say her teammate baffled her was an understatement. The leader kept staring at Weiss, who was trying to act as normal as possible.

It was obvious to the vampire sisters that their leader was suspicious.

Dangerously suspicious.

To throw her off guard, Weiss made a lame joke in response to Yang. "And I can't believe it's not butter."

"Laaaaaaame," Yang drawled.

Good, at least one of them bought the distraction.

"Better than those stupid puns!" Weiss replied, seemingly very into their conversation to distract herself from her leader.

Ruby finally pried her overbearing silver eyes off her white teammate. It was easy to tell Ruby was deep in thought about the previous situation, unable to let it go.

Yang opened the door for her team to get in the classroom. "You know they're good."

It didn't even take two seconds for team RWBY to be pleasantly greeted by team JNPR. It was clear that the other team wanted them to sit by them, so they walked over and took their seats in the front row.

It wasn't hard to make friends with team JNPR. Each member was friendly in their own way, so the two teams hit it off.

Now that they had a chance to look around, they noticed students of all types of diversity scattered around the room. Each of them would be very different in their fighting styles, no doubt.

In the middle of the room, there was an arena. Where matches would be fought.

"Hey guys!" Nora greeted.

"Hey Nora," Ruby replied. "How are you?"

"Great," Nora chirped and grabbed Ren's arm. "We want to fight someone from a different team."

"She," Ren corrected. "She wants to fight someone from a different team."

"Yeah, Nora," Jaune frowned. "Find someone else to smash Magnhild with."

His whole body shuddered from the memories of their team practices. It was official, he was scarred for life.

Nora gave a salute. "That's the plan, captain!"

After a simple smile at his teammate, Jaune casually slid over next to the heiress. "So, uh… Weiss. You, me-"

"No."

"I didn't even finish-"

"No."

"Aw," he sounded defeated.

He was about to try again, but Weiss had placed a hand under her chin with her eyes forward. She couldn't have been more uninterested. Then, the teacher finally appeared and walked to the center of the arena, her shoes tapped a rhythm.

From that, Jaune went back to his seat next to his partner, Pyrrha.

"Cheer up, vomit boy," Yang slung her arm around Weiss' shoulder. "She may seem like an ice queen, but she's actually not so bad."

"Gee," Weiss' voice dripped with sarcasm. "Thanks."

Before they could say anything else, Glynda's voice boomed throughout the room.

"Hello, I'm Glynda Goodwitch."

The two screens that overlooked the arena shuffled randomly.

"This class is designed to enhance your combat skills. The first match will begin..."

One of the monitors showed a picture of the poker-faced Blake and the other displayed an arrogant Cardin.

"... Now."

Team RWBY glanced amongst each other. There was anxiety from the results, but if Blake was worried, she sure didn't show it.

"The first match will be between Ms. Schnee and Mr. Winchester."

As composed as ever, Blake stood from her seat. Suddenly, there was a cold hand that gripped her own.

A reassuring squeeze.

"You can do this," Weiss encouraged.

The blood-faunus simply nodded, her features softened.

"You got this, Blakey!" Yang cheered. "Take him down!"

"Represent teeeeeaaaam RWBY!" Ruby shouted.

The aristocrat smirked and made her way down to the arena. Instead of using the stairs like her opponent, she elected to use her nimbleness to hop over the arena and landed perfectly in the middle.

Blake knew she couldn't use her vampire ability, zehn, during the fight because she was surrounded by humans. Sometimes, she would teleport if she found herself in a scuffle, but took pride in being able to fight well with her clones her aura instead.

Blake pulled out Gambol Shroud as she stood in the middle of the arena. Cardin met her in the middle and whirled his mace around in boredom. He was acting as if Blake was a mere nuisance, and that served to anger her, but she bit her lip. If his tactic was to set off her nerves, it wasn't going to work.

The opponents took a moment to glare at each other menacingly, then Goodwitch called the match.

"Begin!"

Naturally, Blake waited for her opponent to make the first move. She preferred to react to an enemy's attacks and plan accordingly. When she saw Cardin's finger flinch towards his mace, she wasted no time and danced around him with multiple clones.

Blake didn't like to use a head-on tactics; she was more of a stealthy opponent. Cardin, however, was growing more agitated by the second. He always liked close combat, not people slithering around their opponents.

"Wooooow," Ruby said in absolute awe. She'd never seen her teammate in a match before, so spectating excited her.

Winchester glared at the numerous clones encircling him. He didn't analyze every clone and focused on his instinct. In a second, he struck forward, only to cause a clone to dissipate.

He frowned when he realized he picked a fake and then there was an ominous breeze close behind him. It brushed ominously against his neck. The boy knew that Blake planned to rush him, so he turned around and raised his mace just in time to block the assault.

The two were caught in a standstill and Blake heard him whisper.

"You really think that bow can cover up the fact that you're a half-breed?"

The blood-faunus shook off the comment and tried to push him away with little success. He was just too bulky for her to take head-on.

 _I've got a message here for you…_ Blake contentedly thought.

With his mace and sheer strength, he easily sent her flying across the battleground, which elicited a smirk on Winchester's face. However, the arrogant smirk quickly faded when her body dissipated in mid-air.

"Another fake?" Cardin growled. "Stop playing games."

… _Time for you to learn..._

Now he had no idea where she was, but he was too cocky to glance around.

Blake internally glowered from the comment and kept a clear head. Getting worked up in the middle of a fight wouldn't do any good. Cardin didn't survey his surroundings for his opponent and instead, smashed the marble floor with his mace. This caused the entire arena to crack and shoot up, sending shards flying.

It was like an earthquake had rocked the entire room. Loud thuds from the floor breaking reverberated almost excruciatingly.

Blake was caught off guard from the attack. Unable to find her footing from the spikes shooting up, she was sent soaring in the air. Landing on her feet in such a short time was near impossible and she was too stunned to realize what happened. When she hit the floor, she ended up taking the full brunt of the blow, her aura now in the yellow. All she could do was lay on the ground and groan as she tried to regain her senses.

Thankfully, what sounded like Weiss yelled some encouragement.

"Blake!"

It was only the call of her name, but it meant so much more to the aristocrat. With that, she was pulled back into reality as she sat up and examined her surroundings.

Once Cardin spotted her on the ground in a daze, he rushed her, holding his mace back for a lethal blow.

Just what Blake was hoping for.

… _It's my turn!_

She found her footing and tumbled to the side in a nanosecond, narrowly dodging the attack. When she gained some distance, she shot a few bullets at Cardin's chest in mid leap. He did not expect her to compose herself so quickly and ended up taking the harsh shots. The impact made him stagger several feet back, but he was still standing.

Her tactics took a complete 180 and she shot her trusty, firm ribbon at Cardin, causing her weapon to anchor on his back. He was left stuck in place, unable to advance or even wiggle out of the delicate, yet lethal fabric's grip. Wasting no time, she launched forward.

As she swung into his comfortable melee range, she activated the fire dust to use on one of her clones. Luckily, she put the dust in her weapon beforehand, courtesy of Weiss.

Cardin whirled his mace into Blake's torso at full force, only to be hit by a destructive blast of fire. This caused the explosion to release smoke and shroud all around them, rendering him temporarily blind.

Gasps sounded from the audience. To any outsider, there was just tons of smoke and Blake looked like she took a direct hit. After that, no one was able to see what was happening inside.

"What the-"

Through the smoke, Blake clashed her weapon into Cardin's gut below his tough plate armor. The blow elicited a satisfying wheeze from her infuriating opponent. Not giving him a moment to recover, she swiped his body with her katana in rapid succession, causing his aura to fall into the yellow area.

Unfortunately, the boy noticed a pattern in her movements. Thankfully for Blake, she realized that he knew and backed off before he could swing his deadly mace directly into her side.

When the smoke cleared, Cardin noticed the blood-faunus' glare.

"Don't give me that look."

Blake ignored his rude remarks, knowing this was just a dirty tactic to get under her skin.

Then, she saw _it…_

A chance to win.

Not buying into his cheap tricks, she summoned two clones at once. From this, her aura depleted a little again, which caused more fatigue to creep in her body.

She needed to finish this quickly if she was going to be victorious.

The three Blake's dashed around Winchester in a triangle fashion in hopes to confuse him.

Cardin swung full force with his mace when the three went in for a final attack. However, the blood-faunus used her two clones as sacrificial pieces to absorb most of the impact.

Once they dissipated, Blake was there to clash weapons with him again.

This was his chance to taunt her. "I only keep quiet about you being part faunus because I don't want that bitch's pureblood family to come after me."

Blake practically hissed when he insulted her sister. "You can insult me all you want," she summoned the strength to push forward, and she displayed her fangs out of anger. "But you don't make fun of Weiss."

It was true her body was fatigued, but the thought of her sister watching her first real practice match compelled her to move on and push against him with all her might.

Back during the vampire ball, Winchester had insulted both Schnee siblings. It was alright with Blake if he tormented her, but he crossed the line when he taunted Weiss.

This match wasn't just another match. This was about defending her sister's honor.

She gained more friction on the marble floor, and they persisted in the standstill-

When Winchester struck an angry cord within her, there was an opening. He used the momentum to make her trip forwards so he could land a hit directly in Blake's chest. With a gasp, she was sent whizzing into the harsh, concrete wall.

Some people in the audience gasped from the loud impact.

The wall that acted as a shield for spectators was completely dented in. Dust lingered in the air and was so dense that no one could see Blake, which was worrying and stunned everyone into silence. The hard concrete was nothing but little shards that crumbled to the floor.

It was dead silent besides the sounds of concrete cracking.

Cardin smirked at the scene, proud of the results. With that, the match should end. He glanced at her aura bar displayed on the monitors, only to see nothing happen.

"What?!"

Sadly for him, the mass he'd hit turned to stone.

It was an illusion. Just another one of her clones.

The aristocrat slyly used the clone as a distraction, which made him think that was actually her. Now she had an opening. From behind, she used her katana and slashed through Cardin several more times, earning her crucial points in the fight.

Now both of their aura levels were about even and Blake wasn't going to miss her chance.

"I'm done playing games," the pureblood warned.

The blood-faunus slowly backed away, her amber orbs calculating her opponent. His tone was like a warning. Like a harsh foreshadowing of the fight.

That's when something felt off, like something invaded her mind.

High-pitched ringing repeatedly slammed her head **.** A sudden migraine caused her to feel like her head was being split in half. That's when a weak shriek escaped her trembling lips and her knees buckled harshly in a weak attempt to stay standing.

 _O-ow! Wh-what's happening?_

She clutched her ears to try to stop the torturous pounding. It was like a nail was repeatedly thrashed into her head with a hammer. The pain was getting so intense that the corners of her vision started to rim with blackness.

The colors she did manage to see now swirled together and blurred her vision.

Her breathing came heavily and she found herself tilting to the side.

She hit the cold, marble floor, but didn't feel anything. All she could focus on were her delirious thoughts through the excruciating pain.

 _How's he..._

A thin gasp slipped from her lips, her eyes grew half-lidded.

 _Is he using his... pureblood power? In front of... humans?_

There was another call of her name, but she didn't know who it was this time. Everything was muffled and the ringing had taken over her senses. Before losing consciousness, she saw Cardin advancing toward her with his usual smug grin.

 _He's willing to... expose the vampire race... for something as small as this…?_

Then there was only darkness.

* * *

"Hey!" what sounded like Yang announced. "She's waking up!"

Bleary golden eyes slowly escaped fatigued eyelids.

It didn't take long for the aristocrat to realize she was in the infirmary. It was the same one she'd been in once before to get extra blood bags.

That's when she involuntarily flinched, but she didn't know why.

"Guys...?" she rasped.

Weiss wrapped her sister in an awkward hug. Blake was still lying down and Weiss leaned over her, causing her white hair to briefly cover her sister's face.

"We're so glad you're alright," the heiress murmured softly.

 _She's in the infirmary... for me?_

Blake couldn't believe her sister was there. As long as she's known her, she's had a fear of hospitals and infirmaries.

"Why're you here?"

Weiss almost took offense to that comment. "Of course I'm here. You're my sister. I wanted to see if you're okay."

Perhaps Blake had underestimated her sister's adoration and love for her. Of course she'd be there, a simple fear like that wouldn't get in her way when Blake was in danger.

From that, Blake sent her a soft smile and tried to sit up. Yang noticed her efforts and placed a gentle hand on the small of her back to coax her. Blake was able to sit up from the bed she suddenly found herself in.

"What happened?"

"Before we get into that," the heiress grabbed a blacked-out bottle and unscrewed the cap. "Drink up, it's fresh," she winked.

Weiss had managed to fill the bottle with human blood from a spare blood bag when her other teammates had their backs turned. Blake took the hint and was careful not to let the blood stain her face. It only took a few seconds to feel energized again. It was true she didn't use zehn during the fight, but human blood was always a nice treat.

After a few sips, she sighed in relief. She made sure to screw the cap on securely and gave the bottle back in Weiss' trusted grasp.

Fortunately, Ruby and Yang didn't give off signs of suspicion.

"You kicked Cardin's butt!" Ruby exclaimed. "But then you clutched your ears…"

"Like you were in a lot of pain," Yang finished. "What happened to you?"

To any outsider, Blake clutched her ears before passing out cold. Nothing was done to her physically in that moment, so everyone was worried she had a possible sickness or something worse.

Her teammates were extremely concerned. Fainting in the middle of a match wasn't normal at all.

Cardin's taunting footsteps she saw before blacking out flashed through her mind. Her body involuntarily flinched again. That's when Blake recalled what happened.

"I don't remember," she lied.

There was no way she could tell her team the previous events. At least not when the humans were there.

There was a hint of guilt in those amber orbs, and that's when Weiss knew for a fact something was wrong.

Her remaining teammates could only bite their lips in concern.

"Tell us if you need medicine or anything, okay?" Ruby said softly. "I think I speak for everyone when I say we don't want that to happen again."

"It was scary," Yang admitted.

"Thanks for the concern, really," Blake grinned genuinely. "I'm okay now, though. Promise."

Reassuring smiles from her team overwhelmed the room. Blake took the silence as permission to speak her mind.

"I have a request."

"Anything," her partner said.

"Team practice."

Team JNPR seemed close as a team and implied that they practiced combat together. If they started to do so, it would only benefit them. Plus, Blake was interested to see what her teammates were capable of. That, and she also needed to distract the other pair of sisters from the previous situation.

"You want to practice combat as a team?" Ruby asked.

A simple nod.

"Great idea," Ruby chirped. "Do you guys wanna start tomorrow?"

"Sure," Blake replied.

"Why not?" Weiss agreed.

"Heck yeah!" Yang exclaimed. "Team RWBY will be even more badass!"

Blake faintly chuckled from the comment. "Can we get out of here now?" being in there was strange to her.

"Are you okay to walk?" Weiss asked.

Blake threw her legs around the bed and set her feet gently on the floor. "Yes, I'm pretty sure."

"Hold on to me in case," Weiss offered her arm. Watching her sister suddenly drop to the floor frightened her, so she wanted to make sure that wouldn't happen again.

Blake took her arm and the team walked out of the infirmary. The vampire sisters made sure to take it slow, lagging behind the other pair of sisters. Now that they were alone, Weiss could question her about the pureblood and what happened.

"What really happened?" Weiss questioned.

The heiress was shocked when Blake's normal poker face contorted to anger. "That bastard…" she almost seethed in a low whisper. "I'm almost positive he used zehn during the fight?" uncertainty creeped in her tone, which caused Weiss' voice to raise in alarm.

"What?"

When Weiss sounded almost panicked, Yang looked over her shoulder at the pair. "Something wrong?"

"No, everything's fine," Weiss frantically replied. After Yang shrugged and went back to converse with Ruby, Weiss whispered to Blake. "Continue."

"Do you know anything about his semblance?" the blood-faunus asked.

"No, I just know his specific vampire ability gives him extra strength," Weiss informed.

Pureblood power was powered by zehn but a completely different ability. With zehn, Weiss' family could use ice at will. As a separate ability specific to purebloods, the biological Schnee family could summon, but Weiss had yet to do so, so she was interested in what pureblood ability Cardin could harness.

Cardin's vampire ability granted him strength, however, they didn't know his semblance or even pureblood power.

"What he used _might_ have been his semblance and if it was, I've never seen anything like it," Blake recalled all the unique semblances she'd seen in her life. "I doubt it was, so I'm pretty sure he used his pureblood power to beat me."

"What'd he do?"

Blake filled her in on the details- the ringing in her head, and the constant, torturous pounding that was painful enough to cause her to black out.

 _If Winchester thinks he can get away with this,_ Weiss internally seethed. _He has another thing coming._

The information made Weiss baffled to say the least. All she could do was observe and she didn't even know what was happening during that time. When her sister fainted, complete helplessness overwhelmed her body.

 _I'm going to get to the bottom of this before it happens again,_ the heiress vowed. _He's probably done this multiple times to innocent people. Maybe in front of even more humans._

"If he used his pureblood power during a practice match in front of dozens of humans…" the heiress thought out loud. "Then he really is more stupid than I thought."

Weiss recalled seeing her beloved sister lying motionless on the cold, unforgiving floor.

 _He's not getting away with this._

* * *

 **Sibling bonds compel people to do things they never thought they'd ever do. Maybe people who have siblings will understand these feelings.**

 **Which begs the question: what will Weiss do?**

 **As you can see, some of the lyrics from It's My Turn are in here. Thought it fit, so why not?**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	22. The New Scarf

A humble abode.

A dimly lit room.

Wood was the room.

Dead silence.

Frantic yellow eyes scoured the unnerving area.

Something wasn't right...

Maybe _that's_ why.

The blood.

The red liquid tainted the dull wooden floor.

That wasn't the only thing…

There they were.

The devastating gun.

The lethal baseball bat.

She used that bat.

Used?

That's right…

She used that deadly weapon to kill two people.

The ones who murdered her parents.

It was exactly how she remembered it.

Her voice got caught in her throat when she scanned the four bloody bodies. They'd splayed out all over the kitchen floor. Her parents laid right next to each other somewhat peacefully, while the intruders received a more violent end.

No signs of life emitted from any corpse, and they were motionless on the ground.

Blood seeped out of their mouths, stained their clothes, and the once comforting lumber floor.

Her lips trembled at the mere sight she'd tried to forget.

The people who killed her parents, the people _she_ annihilated, had several broken limbs. The corpses were bent all the wrong ways, no way a normal body would bend. The most grotesque, however, was that their heads were dented in and still seeped blood.

She had beaten them to the point when they weren't even recognizable.

Before she could cry out in agony, there was a soft whimper.

Amber eyes whipped to her mother, who miraculously managed to lift her head to meet her daughter in a tormented gaze.

"M-mom?"

"Blake…"

Her mother reached out, desperate for contact.

Blake frantically scampered over and grabbed her mom's hand for dear life.

"M-mom! Mom! I-it's g-gonna be okay!" through trembling sobs, Blake managed to force out. "Y-you're okay!"

She couldn't believe it; her mom was still alive! The comfort didn't seem to help since her mother was shuddering.

"Blake."

Instead of sounding pained, her mother was stern. That was when Blake recognized the voice didn't even belong to her mother.

That didn't matter, though. She had to hold her. To stop the shaking that racked their bodies. To provide what little comfort she could.

Her fatally injured mother stared directly into her daughter's matching golden eyes. Suddenly, her mom's face warped into…

Ruby?

"Blake!"

With a gasp, the blood-faunus shot her eyes open and was surprised to see Ruby leaning worriedly over her.

"Blake, are you okay?" Ruby sounded a mix of frightened and concerned.

For a few minutes, Blake had emitted whimpers of distress in the dead of night. There was no way Ruby could sleep through that when she could help her teammate. Worry struck her entire being, it had to have been a bad nightmare to shake Blake up this much.

After Blake gained control of her hitched breathing, she spoke.

"Ruby, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you," after that, she sat up, terror stricken her shimmering golden orbs.

The leader took that as her cue to sit on the edge of her teammate's bed. "It's no problem at all, Blake," she reassured. Silver eyes dove into Blake's own. "What happened? Did you have a nightmare?"

"Yes," the aristocrat confided. "It-it wasn't pretty."

Ruby had never seen Blake so fearful before. It stirred an overwhelming surge of emotion within her. All Ruby wanted to do was hold her teammate, to tell her that everything was okay. But this was Blake. And she needed time to warm up to people.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"To be honest… no," the aristocrat murmured.

The last thing she wanted to do was relive the past that haunted her. The past almost no one knew about. She kept it guarded under a lock and key.

"Don't worry. I understand," Ruby said softly. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"C-can you stay?" Blake almost didn't ask, but for some reason, her leader's presence calmed her. "Just until I fall asleep?"

If Ruby left, Blake was almost positive she'd relive the past again. She didn't want to take any chances. Finally, she saw her leader's presence as a guarding one rather than an annoying or threatening one.

Ruby didn't need to think twice about the request. "I'll stay here all night if I have to," the corners of her mouth curved into a small smile.

Now feeling the full extent of her fatigue, Blake slowly laid down and shut her relieved eyes. "Thank you…"

Ruby's heart almost ripped in half at the sight. She'd never seen her teammate so shocked before. Whatever nightmare Blake had was obviously something that bothered her. Possibly for a long time. It was obvious to the leader that whatever Blake dreamed, it wasn't pleasant and was of her past.

Ruby hoped one day her teammate would open up about it, but right now…

 _Ohymygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!_ Ruby internally yelled. _I can't believe she let me get this close to her! It seems like just yesterday I told her she's great at walking!_ Ruby nodded to herself. _Great progress so far!_

An urge overwhelmed her, and that's when her fingers found themselves brushing through Blake's damp bangs. From the wet sensation, Ruby almost recoiled, but then realized just how bad the nightmare had to have been for her teammate to break out in a cold sweat.

 _Blake,_ Ruby thought as she gazed down at her. _What happened to you?_

Naturally, she received no response, but that didn't stop her mind from wondering.

A few minutes passed, and now the leader could tell Blake was finally asleep. Her deep breathing was music to Ruby's ears, and the faint rise and fall of her chest told her she was now sleeping serenely.

After a final twirl of Blake's jet-black hair, Ruby went back to her own bunk.

Sleep was hard for her to achieve. Her priority was making sure Blake wouldn't have another nightmare. But after several minutes, there was no change in Blake's condition.

It was until then that Ruby finally allowed herself to slip into slumber.

* * *

Later in the afternoon, it was time to train as a team. Yesterday, Blake requested team practice and the four members of RWBY agreed it was best to start as soon as possible.

After the team learned about each other's semblances, they rehearsed attack combinations for a couple of hours.

"Freezerburn!"

There was the familiar call of their leader, so Yang and Weiss sprang into action.

The sharp rapier was thrusted into the ground. Within seconds, Weiss turned the floor into ice with her dust. Directly after, she leapt out of the way to avoid the eager blonde's fists. When it was clear, Yang plummeted and slammed her fist on the frozen, slippery surface. This created a thick fog that covered the entire training room.

"Wow!"

Most of the team couldn't see each other because of the dense fog, but it was easy to tell the impressed voice belonged to Ruby.

"We'll be at a huge advantage if we use that in combat," Blake smirked.

"If we can see," Yang pointed out.

"Don't worry about that," Blake replied. "I have good vision."

The comment came so naturally she didn't think twice about it. Blake's cat ear under her bow twitched from the mistake. At Beacon, hiding the fact that her and Weiss were vampires was top priority. Just below that was hiding her feline features. However, she concluded that she worried for nothing when both Yang and Ruby didn't seem suspicious. She didn't blow her cover, much to her relief. To ease more of her internal tension, she realized Weiss sent her a reassuring smile, even in the thick fog.

The heiress couldn't see Blake, but followed the sound of her voice to face her sister. That's when she sent her the faint smile, knowing she could see it, even if she couldn't see Blake.

"We'll leave it to you then," Yang replied. "What's the next move you wanna practice, Rubes?"

"Before that," Weiss whipped out her rapier to steady it and turned the dial to the wind dust setting.

Her intention was to clear the room of the annoying dense fog, but her leader interrupted her.

"Hold on," Ruby gently set her palm on the sharp weapon. "Leave it to me!"

Without warning, Ruby bolted off with her speed semblance. Soon enough, she became a red blur that circled the training ground what seemed like hundreds of times in the span of three seconds. Red petals scattered all around the area in a mini whirlwind.

The technique worked like a charm and the fog was completely cleared. When it lightened up, her three teammates were left standing there in awe.

"Or you could do that…" Weiss muttered.

Everyone was still in their own world when Ruby yelled.

"Bumblebee!"

The call snapped Blake out of her thoughts. On instinct, she threw Gambol Shroud directly at Yang, all the while making sure to hold on to the end of the firm ribbon. To her surprise, Yang was already sprinting for a head-start and caught the blunt end of her partner's weapon. When it was safe, Blake yanked on the ribbon and Yang twirled around in response, keeping a firm grip on the handle. Using the momentum on the ground, Yang cocked her gauntlets for extra speed. It took Blake's muscles a second to get used to the strain of spinning her partner around, but with Yang's effort, they could do it. With a determined shout, Blake managed to get Yang to spin around in a rapid circle. To showboat, Yang intentionally erupted into a yellow light that caught on fire from her flaming semblance.

The partners continued like that for a while, now having fun with it.

"Incredible…" Weiss was in awe at the sight.

Ruby giggled and gingerly rubbed the back of her head. "Yang is such a show off."

"Take a pic, Rubes!" Yang could barely yell since she was too determined to not let go and fly into a wall.

After Ruby gave her sister an annoyed sigh, Weiss faced her leader. "Is there anything else you'd like to try?"

"No," Ruby shook her head. "I think we've nailed Checkmate and Ice Flower, too. Wouldn't you agree?"

"They are well-thought out combinations," Weiss admitted. "Pairs are more effective."

"Right," Ruby nodded. "Our chances will also increase to attack."

"You're…" Weiss started.

Ruby tilted her head. "I'm?"

"You're a good leader, Ruby," the heiress praised. "The fact that you thought of majority of those attack combinations… I'm impressed."

Ruby had an ear-to-ear grin and she gave her partner a crushing hug. "Aw, thanks Weissy!" the last thing Ruby expected was praise from her salty teammate, so she was overjoyed.

"Weissy?" the heiress yelped. "Don't call me that, you dolt!" she struggled out of her grip. "Let go of me!"

"You know you love me!" Ruby rubbed the top of her head below her teammate's chin, not easing up even a bit with the crushing hug. "Embrace it!"

A strong pair of hands separated the two. "What's the matter with you, Rubes?" Yang scolded.

During the commotion, Yang and Blake had sauntered over to their remaining teammates when they were done messing around.

While Weiss attempted to catch her breath, Yang continued. "Everyone knows the princess doesn't like being handled..."

"Thank you!" Weiss huffed in victory.

"... Which is why only I'm able to do it," the blonde trapped her in an even tighter rib-crushing hug, which elicited a tiny squeal from the heiress.

The cute sound she emitted compelled Yang to twirl her petite teammate around in circles.

"Why you- let go of me this instant!" Weiss was fuming and tried to squirm out of her overbearing grip, but her arms were locked in place.

"How could I resist?" Yang teased and noticed it might be hard for Weiss to breathe due to her struggling lungs. From that, the blonde decided that was enough and gently set her teammate down. "You're like a doll!"

Weiss looked like she was about to explode of anger.

"... A yangry doll…"

"I will kill you, Xiao Long!"

* * *

The team decided some down-time was in order after training for several hours. Right now, they were walking in the city of Vale, wandering the streets and just enjoying each other's company.

It wasn't long before the vampire sisters received a text from Winter, who was asking about how things were going, especially how the pizza night went.

As they casually strolled through town, Weiss and Blake took turns to explain everything that happened to keep the eldest updated like they'd promised.

When the team rounded a corner, they noticed a store. It was small and wrapped up in security tape. The four members cautiously approached the scene, wondering what was going on.

"You thinkin' the White Fang?" one of the security guards asked.

The other guard scoffed. "I'm thinkin' we don't get paid enough."

At the mention of the White Fang, Blake's bow twitched. "The White Fang…"

Weiss lightly tapped her sister's back, careful not to draw attention to themselves. "Come on, let's go."

"Everything alright, Blake?" Yang asked. She didn't like seeing her partner so conflicted.

Meanwhile, Weiss was just impressed the blonde was somewhat perceptive.

"Yes, I'm fine," Blake regained her poker face. "Does anyone want something from the bakery?"

"Sounds delish," Yang agreed.

Ruby didn't even reply; she was already inside the store.

"Guess that's a yes…" the blood-fanus murmured as she smiled fondly at the red cape she could see through the window. "What about you, Weiss?"

"You go on ahead," Weiss had another plan in mind. Coming to this place brought back memories. "I'll be there in a few."

"Okay, see ya later, princess," Yang waved.

After a nod, Weiss parted ways with them. Briefly, Blake watched her walk down the sidewalk alone, but dismissed her overprotective thoughts. Weiss could handle being alone for a few minutes. With a clear mind, Blake and Yang walked to the bakery.

"Oh yeah," Yang mentioned. "We met around here."

"That's right…" the aristocrat was lost in thought. "It feels like so long ago."

* * *

Meanwhile, the heiress wandered around a clothing store in search of one item.

For a certain piece of fabric.

The silky fabric was torn to shreds the last time she was in town.

For her sake.

She sauntered down the correct aisle while she thought about her sister.

 _The White Fang… I know Blake used to be part of that organization when she was a child. I wonder how she felt when we encountered that store. I was told she was an ex-member when she became my bodyguard, but I didn't care too much about that. But I do care that she witnessed her parent's deaths..._

An involuntary shudder racked her body. She'd spent years trying to comfort Blake about that topic, but no matter what the heiress did, she never truly opened up about her past.

The fact that Blake witnessed her parents get murdered was something only the Schnee family knew. However, only Mr. Schnee knew that Blake had killed her parents' murderers. And the real reason she followed him.

To repent her sins. To make up for the two lives she took from the world.

Blake understandably didn't want anyone to know about that.

In the corner of her vision, Weiss caught sight of the familiar orange fabric. She reached for it and felt the soft material, pleased that it was almost a replica of the one that was destroyed a few months ago.

 _What're you doing? This isn't like you._

The heiress stared at the scarf, as if it was challenging her.

 _Still,_ her fingers memorized the material. _I'm sure she'll like it._

Weiss forced her thoughts aside and bought the fabric, trying not to think too much about it. Afterward, she headed to the bakery, where the rest of her team was located.

She was greeted with a pleasant aroma and cheery smiles.

"Heya, Weissy!" Ruby greeted, which caused the heiress to almost frown from the nickname.

Blake did a simple, "Hey."

"Hey, princess," Yang chirped. "What's in your hand?"

For some reason, Weiss didn't mind Yang's nickname for her.

Perhaps she'd grown used to it?

Weiss sat next to the curious blonde and set the bag on her combat skirt. "Hey."

"What'd you get?" Yang repeated.

The heiress looked away, her cheeks tinted a slight red. "It's for you."

Ruby and Blake's eyebrows perked. That wasn't the response they expected.

Was she _blushing?_

Yang wore a mixture of confusion and curiosity. "What? You got something for me?"

"Don't make me say it twice!"

That reaction was more like the person Blake knew.

"Alright, alright!" Yang frantically waved her hands. "C-can I open it?"

"You may," the heiress replied, nervousness in her tone.

The blonde picked up the bag and eagerly tore the thin paper. Her jaw dropped and her lilac eyes widened as she held back a gasp.

"You didn't…"

"What'd she get you?" Ruby couldn't help but ask.

At least she could say something. Blake was dumbstruck from the display.

Yang reached in the bag and pulled out the fabric to reveal the present. "It's the orange scarf!" she held it up to Ruby. "Remember?"

"Yeah!" Ruby exclaimed. "Didn't the other one get torn apart by a beowolf?"

"Yeah…" Yang was still in awe.

When she stole a glance at Weiss, she could only shyly glimpse away.

The blonde didn't waste a second and wrapped the scarf around her neck, pleased that it matched her combat outfit just like the last one. It was so soft and kept her neck warm…

Her eyes started to water from the meaning of the gift.

From the start, her and Weiss had gotten off on the wrong foot. So the fact that her teammate went out of her way to get her a gift…

Happiness filled her entire being.

"Don't cry you brute!" Weiss scolded. "Honestly," she sighed. "I didn't buy you it for you so you could cry."

"I'm just so happy," the blonde fake wiped some tears to tease her flustered teammate.

Weiss gave her a playful scowl. "The original was destroyed because you were just trying to protect me. The incident also happened in this area, so…"

Yang couldn't hold back and wrapped the heiress in a gentle hug. "Thank you, princess. I love it."

Weiss stiffened in the embrace, but allowed the hug.

Just this once.

Normally, Yang's hugs almost suffocated her to death, but this one was a mix of things.

Warm, relieving, and she could practically _feel_ kindness overflow from the blonde.

When the two broke apart, Yang slid a slice of bread over to her teammate.

"Here, Blake told me it was your favorite."

* * *

 **Awwwww our ships are being shipped. How adorable!**

 **~Look forward to next week's chapter~**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	23. Needing Answers

Later that night, Blake found herself trapped in another nightmare.

The mention of the White Fang yesterday probably triggered it.

She'd been constantly whimpering, tossing and turning in her bed. Yang was a heavy sleeper, this especially proved true since she was in the bunk above her and didn't feel any of the troubling motions. Meanwhile, Ruby was on the other side of the room, and she still heard the weak whimpers. Her eyes widened in realization, and she jumped out of her top bunk.

 _She's having another nightmare?_ Ruby fretted. _Is it the same one as before?_

The leader ran her fingers through Blake's damp bangs, only to find she'd broken out in another cold sweat. What's worse, Blake's face was contorted in distress, suggesting she was tormented by whatever she was seeing.

She _needed_ to wake up.

 _Ohhhh Blake!_

Ruby gulped and leaned over her teammate. Their faces were mere inches apart. Forcing away a blush, Ruby's lips slightly parted as worried silver eyes bore down on her.

"Blake."

More beads of sweat rolled down the aristocrat's forehead, and her face furrowed. That meant she had to have heard _something._ Satisfied from the reaction, Ruby tried again in a harsh whisper.

"Blake!"

She woke with a gasp. On instinct, her hand covered her mouth as her frantic eyes darted around the room. It was dark, but the blood-faunus could clearly see her dependable leader with her night vision. From the sight, she could calm down, if only just a little.

"Ruby," she breathed and sat up. "Did I wake you again?"

"Blake," the leader began. "Is it something you need to talk about? This is the second night in a row."

"I-I'm sorry," Blake had to bite her lip to stop it from trembling. "I'm so sorry…"

Ruby felt like she was apologizing to someone else rather than her, so she grasped her teammate's shaking hands. It came as no surprise when they felt clammy like her sweaty forehead.

"It's okay," Ruby leaned in and murmured sweetly in her ear. "You'll be okay…"

She could tell Blake was on the verge of tears and pulled her in close, rubbing soothing circles on her back. At first, Ruby was hesitant to hug Blake, especially since her teammate seemed to like her personal space, but she decided to push those thoughts aside.

Right now, Blake _needed_ a hug.

If there was one thing Ruby was an expert at, it was hugs.

The blood-faunus muffled her quiet wails and accepted her friend's embrace. The fact that Blake was trying to control her crying concerned Ruby. If there was one thing that shouldn't be controlled, it was crying.

Then Ruby remembered the situation they were in as she glanced around the room. Even when Blake was this frightened, she took consideration of those around her. It was easy to gather that Blake didn't want to wake the rest of the team and disturb their peace just because she was having a bad night.

Through hitched sobs, Blake's arms glided around the worried girl's back. It was a loose embrace at first, but then her leader pulled her closer in response. The aristocrat didn't seem to mind it and sniffled several times, her face buried into Ruby's shoulder.

"Let it out," Ruby breathed. "You'll feel better afterwards. I promise."

The trembles racked both of their bodies, which compelled Ruby pull her in closer. All Blake could do was cry into Ruby's shoulder in attempt to stifle the sobs.

"I'm sorry," Blake mumbled almost inaudibly. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"

"It's okay."

The warm, comforting hands rubbed Blake's back in comforting circular motions. Each time her breath hitched, Ruby would glide her fingers through the black tresses.

They stayed like that for several minutes, until Blake finally wore herself out. By the time she was done crying, her tears soaked through Ruby's cape and her arms loosened immensely around her leader's back, signaling she was fatigued.

Now Blake was thoroughly exhausted, and she ended up just leaning onto Ruby.

 _Aw, Blake…_ Ruby thought, now able to feel her calm heartbeat. _I don't know what happened to you, but there's no way I'll let you be alone for this. Whether you like it or not._

Panic struck her heart when tears dripped down Blake's closed eyelids. Immediately, Ruby used her cape to wipe her face dry, satisfied to notice she didn't so much as flinch from the contact.

After that, the leader supported all her weight and carefully wrapped a gentle hand around her head and the other around her waist to softly lay her down. Body contact with her teammate was foreign to her, but she liked it nonetheless. She just wished it didn't take Blake to break down crying for her to get this close.

After she pulled up the covers around her, she noticed Blake was asleep, her chest rising and falling in rhythm. It was a much more relieving sight than when she was almost breathless from bawling.

To make sure she was asleep, Ruby brushed her fingers through the black bangs. From the contact, Blake remained still and her breathing didn't hitch again.

With a sad smile, Ruby grasped Blake's hand one more time before heading to bed.

 _Hopefully one day you'll tell me about it, but for now... All I can do is be there for you._

Liking the thought, Ruby finally went back to her bunk to get some rest.

* * *

A few hours later, around 3:00 A.M. that same night, Weiss received a text. To make sure it would rouse her, she set her scroll to vibrate and left it in her hand before she fell asleep.

She had always been a light sleeper. Years of being with Blake conditioned her to wake up at the slightest sound. Of course, this meant she heard what transpired and she felt bad for not helping her sister, but was glad Ruby was there for her. Normally, she'd help Blake with her nightmares, but her leader beat her to it. She smiled at the thought. Now Blake didn't have to depend on just Weiss for her nightmares, she had a team to lean on.

The scroll vibrated again, which snapped her out of her stupor.

She was expecting the message, which read:

'I'm here as planned. Hurry up'

Immediately, the heiress yanked down the covers and hopped out of bed. Without a sound, she made her way over to the dresser and changed into her combat outfit. After that, she quickly put her hair in its signature side pony-tail.

She made sure to pick a rendezvous time when no one would be awake. The last thing she wanted was to get people involved. To make sure everyone was asleep, she checked each person individually and concluded no one would be follow her.

After she confidently strapped Myrtenaster to her hilt and stocked her dust pouch to its fullest capacity, she headed out.

The location was somewhere no one would dare venture at night.

The Emerald Forest.

She knew some weak grimm would be repelled when they sensed immense amounts of zehn, so she figured that was the best spot. It was also highly unlikely someone would interrupt them.

She only wandered in the forest for a couple of minutes by the time she heard the call.

"Ice bitch."

Her eye twitched from the insult and it took all her willpower not to snap. The deep voice seemed like it was behind her, so she turned around, not surprised to see the person.

He stood a few meters away with his signature cocky grin.

Through the darkness, he'd used his mace as a light, so it wasn't hard to see his face **.** In response, she used fire dust to mend the tip of her rapier so he could see her.

"Winchester."

With an arrogant grin, Cardin spoke with a huff. "I can't believe you actually came."

"I arranged this meet-up, why wouldn't I?" the heiress questioned in a snarky tone.

She was in no mood for his attitude. It was easy to grow less tolerant of him when he acted like this all the time. She wanted to meet with him for one thing and one thing only.

"I hope you know it's a pain in the ass to come out here this late," Cardin informed and heaved his blazing mace on his shoulder.

The action caused Weiss to nitpick his weapon. "It came prepared."

Winchester was not amused from the light jab. "You didn't think I'd come without my weapon," his voice lowered almost threateningly. "Did you?"

"Whatever," she huffed and kept her rapier steady at the ground, calculating his facial features with only the moonlight and makeshift torches. "I have a few questions for you."

The point of meeting up wasn't to fight, but if it came down to it, they'd both be prepared.

"This better be good," Cardin whirled his mace around in boredom. "I could be sleeping right now."

Weiss kept a firm grip on her weapon and pointed it accusingly at him. "What'd you do to Blake?" the question was heard loud and clear in her hostile tone.

Winchester smirked. "What do you think I did?"

Her blue eyes narrowed from the question. Of course he wouldn't give her an outright answer. That would be too easy. No, he liked to play games.

Too bad this game involved Blake.

There was no way Weiss would fall into his dirty hands like a marionette. When it came to her sister, there were no games.

Through gritted teeth, Weiss answered. "I think you used zehn, or worse, your pureblood power to best her."

From the comment, he only scoffed. "Heh."

Something snapped in Weiss. When it came to her sister, she was protective. In a split second, she used her glyphs to glide across the ground, rapidly closing the distance between them. The vegetation in the forest rustled from the sudden rush of air, and when she stood mere inches in front of him with a scowl, she pointed her flaming rapier dangerously close to his neck.

The heiress' muscles tensed, her fangs now on display.

Despite her menacing appearance, Cardin wasn't intimidated in the slightest. It was true she was petite by nature, especially compared to his bulky build, but any normal person would cower in fear.

This was a stand-off between vampires.

"What'd you do to her?" Weiss' tone lowered menacingly.

Winchester glared at the weapon and then to her. "You caught me," he raised his arms in mock surrender. "I used my pureblood power."

From that, her eyes narrowed and warped to a deep tint of red.

"You _bastard!_ Are you trying to expose the vampire race!?"

"My pureblood power is invisible to the naked eye," Cardin bragged. "Even the victim can't see it coming."

After he said that, his eyes shifted to a lighter red, and then she was struck with an odd sensation.

The heiress felt the same thing Blake described.

High-pitched ringing repeatedly slammed her skull **.** A sudden migraine caused her to feel like her head was being split in half. That's when a weak shriek escaped her trembling lips and she bore her fangs in a weak attempt to retaliate.

 _Agh! No wonder why Blake got knocked off her feet! This hurts like hell!_

Her head began to spin and she could hear nothing over the high-pitched ringing. She fell to her knees and tried to force the excruciating pounding away, but no matter how hard she tried, nothing worked. Consciously, her grip on Myrtenaster tightened so she wouldn't drop it during the fall.

Her opponent was right in front of her, so she pried her eyes open just in time to see Cardin lethally swing his fiery mace.

Directly at her head.

On instinct, she conjured a glyph to tumble out of the way. A few gasps of pain slipped out as she braced herself and rolled roughly on the hard grass and dirt.

Fighting a pureblood wasn't the expected result from tonight, but after seeing his clear intent to harm her, there was no way she was going to back down.

Once she gained her bearings, she saw where she kneeled before. The ground was now a gaping hole in the planet. His strength was a force to be reckoned with. It was almost frightening.

She stood quickly, but she almost fell back down from the effects of his pureblood power. Her head was still ringing; her sense of hearing was clearly gone. There was an enormous pressure in her ears and she clutched them in response. Her eyes were squeezed shut, but that's when she recalled she had to focus.

She glanced up at Cardin, only to notice he was advancing and he mouthed something, but no sound came out.

"Are you _sure_ you want to fight another pureblood?" Weiss questioned.

It was odd not being able to hear herself speak. For a moment, she thought she didn't say anything, but the slight vibrations in her jawline told her otherwise. If she could avoid a fight, she would, but if the situation called for dominance, she'd give it exactly that.

The infuriating smirk was his answer. He was well-aware she couldn't hear his response anyways.

 _Guess that's a yes,_ Weiss bitterly thought. _This is bad,_ _but just like all vampires, purebloods have weaknesses. What's his?_

Each pureblood power has a weakness specific to the user. She took a defensive stance and bit her lip. She was at the disadvantage since he caught her off guard, but if she could just figure out his weakness-

Like a javelin, Cardin threw his heavy weapon at her.

The mace almost hit her, but she used her glyphs to dodge the blow as she skid across the forest floor, which gained momentum and several precious feet away from him. Her dazzling glyphs provided gentle streaks of blue light in the darkness.

The further away she got, the more noticed her hearing came back and the ringing decreased. It didn't take her long to devise a plan after that.

 _I need to beat him at a distance._

Immediately, she switched off her rapier's flame and twisted the dust chamber. Now she blended with the night and used that as her chance to hide in the dense bushes.

"Not so high and mighty now are you, ice bitch?"

The comment was heard loud and clear now that her hearing was back.

She bit her lip in frustration as she watched him pace around. What a perfect display of predator and prey. The last thing she wanted to do was hide, but currently she had no choice. Easily enough, Cardin kept his mace lit, so she could see him perfectly.

Was he toying with her?

This really was like a game to him.

And she was more than willing to win.

Cardin jumped back when a line of fire spewed out from the bushes. He used his mace to block the blast, but the hot flames engulfed the surrounding area.

A large chunk of the forest erupted into flames. They'd been used to the darkness, so when there was a sudden flash of light, Cardin was stunned into a daze and covered his eyes from the harsh fire. After a deep breath, Weiss focused her zehn to make dozens of ice shards without the help of dust. Just when Winchester spotted her in the distance with the help of the raging fire, she propelled each icicle into the flames.

Winchester stumbled around in confusion.

"What the-"

The action caused the area to become a dense fog, all traces of the flames vanished. Now he was temporarily blind, and she didn't have to worry about a stray fire.

 _That's what you get for being arrogant you son of a bitch,_ Weiss smirked. _It's my own freezerburn attack._

She raised three fingers to create a perimeter of glyphs to surround her opponent. Once they were set up, she used each one as a holder as she flew past each one and she began to strike him.

He could only hear her zooming past him and each time he was struck with force. Cardin was surprised she could land hits with such strength. To top it off, she was moving extremely fast.

After taking several hits in this manner, he regained his composure and held his mace like a baseball bat.

Weiss was going too fast to notice he got into a defensive stance and then he swung. Unfortunately, Winchester noticed a predictable pattern in her movements to retaliate.

The mace collided into her midsection, knocking the wind out of her.

"Homerun," Cardin darkly remarked.

She whizzed several feet away and crashed on hard rocks, denting the area around her. It was just as big as the first crater in the fight, except she was lying in the middle of the aftermath. She writhed in pain from the blow and noticed darkness rhymed her vision, but she desperately fought it off.

 _My ribs…_ she clutched her torso. _They're probably broken. Agh! It hurts!_

It was almost torturous to crawl out of the rocks. She managed to get on all fours, and then her body forcibly coughed without command. She squinted to power through her hazy vision and realized there was red liquid mixing in with the rocks.

It was her blood.

She coughed again and more blood spewed out. It was leaking down her chin and stained her white outfit. Not only that, she had trouble breathing. Each inhale was painful and sent pangs through her body.

This was Cardin's chance, so he slowly advanced towards the heaving girl. When he was close enough, he raised his hand to send out the waves he uses to initiate his pureblood power.

Through her blurry vision, Weiss suspected what he was doing and managed to use her glyphs to gain critical distance. Even in her condition, she was still able to fight, she just needed time to gain her bearings. Thankfully, the fog covered her tracks but she was disappointed that the fog was dying. Still, it was dark outside, and she easily hid in the forestry again. When she was in a comfortable spot in a set of bushes, a pang shot through her torso and she clutched it in response, trying not to make a single sound. A whimper almost escaped, but her hand made it to her mouth in time, and when she pulled away, more blood smeared on her palm.

Right now, she couldn't worry about that. She had to focus.

 _Think,_ she told herself as she watched the boy look for her in frustration. _Now what?_

The pureblood devised his own plan.

"Everyone knows the Schnee's can summon with their pureblood power. Why can't you!? You're a sorry excuse for a pureblood!"

That insult hit home. She thought back to all the times Winter tried to help her train with summoning. After countless failures, the eldest would never give up on her younger sister. No matter how frustrated Weiss would get, Winter would literally smack some sense into her, encouraging her to never give up.

The heiress bit her lip from forming a retort, but then he taunted her more.

"I went easy on you so far! I'm more powerful than you think! I'm done with this bullshit!"

 _He hasn't been serious?_

Winchester spun his mace around for several seconds while it was still on fire and smashed it in the ground, creating a deep pit. Weiss tried to regain her footing but it was like Remnant itself shifted. Thousands of nasty shards skewered the area. It was like an earthquake shook the planet.

The heiress flew unceremoniously without any control over her body. She tried to gain sight of where her opponent was located, but her world was spinning until she hit the ground on her back.

A sickening crunch rang out.

 _Ok… now they're broken._

On impact, she coughed up more blood harshly. Before she even realized what was happening, a nearby beowolf jumped out of the tree line and tried to attack the downed girl.

The beast saw its chance when there was easy prey.

 _I can't catch a break._

With expert reflexes, she used her zehn, casting daggers of ice at the grimm and impaled the beast's head multiple times before it could even touch her. The corpse dropped dead in mid-air.

Now her breathing came more harshly, having her zehn and aura depleted during the fight. Her injured ribs certainly didn't help, either.

While she was distracted, Cardin found a jagged ice shard that survived the fray and threw it.

At her.

Just as Weiss stood with the help of her rapier, the sharp fragment pierced her left eye, leaving a nasty gash wound.

"Agh!"

"Oops," Cardin sarcastically said. "I meant to hit that beowolf."

While clutching her left eye, blood leaked down her face and stained her hand.

More blood leaked out of her mouth when she coughed, and that's when she abandoned the eye wound to place her hand over her lips, the other palm still grasped her weapon to help her stand.

"Y-you bastard!" she managed to half-shout.

Just breathing hurt, so yelling caused her body to throb in agony. Her whole body ached. Some of her ribs were broken and now she couldn't use one of her eyes. The slashed one was squeezed shut and coated in blood, while the functional one could only receive blurry images. She was only able to stand with the help of her thin weapon as she panted harshly and slumped over, her eye glued to the blurry ground. No matter what, she refused to close her eye and let the darkness take over.

 _Blake…_

Cardin advanced slowly, his burning mace casually rested on his shoulder. "This is the moment I've been waiting for!"

As he brought his mace down to land the final hit, he wasn't met with flesh, but instead, ice.

Before he could attack, Weiss summoned the remains of her zehn to protect her in the form of an ice barrier.

"Huh?!"

It was shaped like a smooth cube and when Cardin tried to break it with his mace, it was stronger than steel. Ice fragments broke off from the brutal impact, but the barrier didn't even crunch.

Cardin's face contorted in anger.

"Get out of there, ice bitch!"

Her body could no longer bare weight as she collapsed to her knees. Instead of replying, she was too busy trying to catch her breath. One of her fatigued arms wrapped loosely around her aching torso and she coughed up more blood.

 _Blake..._

Cardin glared at the struggling girl through the transparent ice. "You leave me no choice."

He used his pureblood power one more time. This made her ears ring and her world go dark. She had no way of fighting it as she tipped over, her grip on Myrtenaster lost.

She slammed on the icy surface the same time as her rapier.

The weapon clinked on the ground. The sound replayed over and over, above the harsh ringing...

Time stopped.

She felt her eyes alter back to their natural azure, and that's when she knew…

It was her utter defeat.

 _Blake…_ she gazed at her opponent's feet while lying helplessly on the icy floor, her vision fuzzy. _I'm sorry I failed you._..

Even after she blacked out in a puddle of her own blood, Cardin continued to wail on the ice shield with his mace. He wanted to land a blow to make her not want to mess with him ever again.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!"

A fist collided into his face. It was the most stunning sucker punch, like the impact of a train running down a car. Before he knew it, he was sprawled on the ground and taking rounds of punches from a person's whose eyes were burning.

The person forced all their weight on top of the struggling pureblood. He was effectively pinned down and could only use his hands to block a few of the many harsh blows.

"DON'T," a punch, "MESS," another punch, "WITH," a harsh jab, "MY," the person held back a fist to make this punch the hardest, "TEAMMATE!"

The newcomer straddled the boy, her expression the very embodiment of anger. He was picked up from the grass by his collar. Even though Winchester had a large build, she picked him up like he was a feather. His feet dangled just above the forest floor and he emitted a low growl of defiance.

Now that he wasn't being knocked senseless, he finally examined the person's appearance.

Her hair was a raging inferno that roared brilliantly. It was like it wasn't even dark outside with the radiant flames.

Her eyes were a menacing red, her face was contorted in a fury, her jaw was set, and most of all…

She was ready for a fight.

Once he realized who she was, she hurled him to the ground like trash and glared at him in disgust.

"YOU WANNA GO, YOU BASTARD?!"

Her fury howled in the night as she held both fists up in a defensive stance. With a stomp of her foot, more flames erupted in a scathing wrath.

When he gained his bearings, Cardin slowly sat up and wiped his bloody nose.

"What're you doing here, Xiao Long?"

* * *

 **Have no fear! Xiao Long is here!**

 **On another note, Weiss got her ass kicked. Fun times. Never said she already had her scar, so there you go.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	24. Barrier of Ice

**MERRY CHRISTMAS! Hope you have a dandy day!**

* * *

"What're you doing here, Xiao Long?"

"WERE YOU TRYIN' TO _FUCKING_ KILL HER!?" Yang howled, she was livid. "ARE YOU _FUCKING_ INSANE?!"

Her yells reverberated in the night. Her angry voice alone caused some of the forestry to rustle with unease. Her blazing mane roared dangerously in the darkness.

The flames her hair emitted caused some of the nearby vegetation to ignite and wither in ashes. It was like it wasn't even dark outside with the radiant flames.

As if she couldn't get more menacing, Yang's eyes warped to a dark shade of blood-red. The infuriated blonde's face contorted in a fury, and she grit her teeth.

From her terrifying appearance, Cardin slowly crawled backwards while he kept a firm grip on his mace. Things were starting to get heated, and the last thing he wanted was to fight a pissed off Yang Xiao Long. He'd used a lot of zehn and aura in the fight against Weiss, so currently, he was running low on fumes.

For once, a human intimidated a pureblood.

Winchester finally stood and wiped the blood dripping down his face. "Like I'd kill the Schnee heiress who's also a student. People would come after me," he spoke the truth, but it didn't like his characteristic bite.

Yang was like a ball of light, her fists clenched to calm down. "Why the hell were you guys fighting?! What was all that talk about purebloods?! And vampires?!"

Cardin was in a tight spot, so he kept his tone level. "You heard all that, huh?"

That didn't seem to help since Yang's eyes widened. She rapidly approached his cowering form and rocketed another punch to his face. Unfortunately for him, Cardin's mace blocked the jab at first, but it was knocked out of his grip and slammed onto the forest floor. Only then did a sickening crunch ring out as her fist met bones. Winchester crashed hardly on the ground, more blood seeped down his face from the beating.

"Answer me!" she was in no mood for stalling.

Cardin bit his lip, knowing this was a difficult situation. A human knew about vampires.

There was no way he was going to get involved.

"I'm definitely not going to be the one to tell you," the battered boy glanced at the ice barrier the unconscious heiress trapped herself in."That's up for her to decide."

Yang frowned, but was satisfied to see him bloodied and beaten on the cold forest floor.

"Speaking of which," Cardin continued. "You should worry more about her and less about me."

The more Yang gazed at the ice barrier, the more she realized he was right. Infuriatingly so. Judging by the amount of blood Weiss was lying in, she needed treatment, and fast.

After a deep breath, Yang closed her eyes to compose herself.

Eventually, her flames flickered away and her eyes shifted back to lilac, signaling she was much more calm.

With a clear head, she knew Cardin was right. No matter how much she wanted to beat the living hell out of him, she needed to help her teammate first. Her health was top priority. Not beating him up. Besides, if she wanted revenge, she could go after him later.

"Don't think I'll forget this," Yang spat with venom.

She spared him a glance, daring him to move an inch. When he simply frowned, she knew she was in the clear and rushed to her teammate's side.

Cardin took that as his chance to get away. After he grabbed his weapon, he limped back to his room to heal. He used a lot of aura and zehn tonight, and he wasn't too keen on being stuck in a useless fight with a human.

When he was out of sight, Yang allowed herself to focus her full attention on her injured friend. She tried pounding the ice barrier several agonizing times, but it was no use. She couldn't even make a crack form.

Slowly, she dragged her fists off the frozen, smooth barrier.

The blonde stared at the ice cube and at her passed out teammate inside.

 _What were they talking about? Vampires? Is- is she a vampire? No,_ she shook her head. _I can think about that later. Right now, she needs help!_

Yang started to desperately wail on the ice again. "Weiss! Weiss! Wake up!" but the frozen water was like steel and tiny fragments didn't even break off.

And Weiss gave no indication she heard her pleas.

The determined blonde kept wailing the same spot, hoping for some sort of dent. It didn't work, and as precious time ticked by, she had to change tactics.

To make matters worse, Weiss was deathly still on the frigid ice.

 _Dammit, Weiss!_ Yang internally yelled. _H-how do I..._

To clear her head, Yang took a deep breath. Finally, a different plan sparked in mind. The glow she had earlier emitted, except this time, it was a controlled inferno. Immediately, she punched her two fists together and set them aflame.

 _This is the only way._

Just like that, her eyes shifted back to a deep red from her activated semblance. She elected to use her most powerful punch, the right hook. The last time she used it was in a fight was against her sister, but now she wasn't willing to hold back even an ounce of strength.

After swinging her fist back and rocketing it forward, her hand made an immense impact against the ice. Much better than previously. However, the punch only managed to break the surface, causing straying shards to fly.

A grunt filled the air, and her knuckles bled from the impact. The ice could pass as glass in its pristine condition.

Her fist remained screwed into the ice as red liquid dripped down. She only spared a glance at it when there was a stinging pain before staring at the collapsed Weiss in utter disbelief.

 _How the hell is ice this strong?! I guess that's good, though. There's no way that douche could get to her._

When punching didn't work, Yang almost panicked, however, her fist remained in the ice.

That's when it hit her.

 _But I'm a different story._

The flames that engulfed her fist were melting through the barrier. It was slow and gradual, but it did infiltrate the practically invincible ice shield.

With a winning smile, Yang removed her fist from the ice. To make the process faster, she made her whole body shake with rage, for once being in control of her emotions. When her hair was on fire, she leaned against the barrier and overtime, felt it melt to water.

It took several minutes for it to melt. Every second was painful when she kept thinking about how Weiss needed medical attention. Steam rose from the process and made her vision cloudy during that time, but it was necessary to get to her injured teammate.

After she managed to melt a portion of the ice shield big enough for her to fit through, she could reach out for the heiress.

Now she was inside the barrier and she gently coaxed Weiss in her arms. After inspecting the damages, Yang gasped when she saw blood dripping down Weiss' left eye. To her surprise, there was blood streaming out of her mouth, meaning there could be some internal damage.

Without thought, Yang pulled off the orange scarf Weiss gave her and used it to put pressure on the eye wound. The beautiful piece of fabric was dyed a partial crimson, but Yang knew it was worth it.

Unable to stare at the blood any longer, Yang wiped most of it off her resting face. It was worrying when Weiss didn't even flinch from contact.

"Weiss, can you hear me?!"

The only response she received was Weiss' head limply lolling against her shoulder. To make sure she was even alive, Yang pressed a finger against her neck. She let out a relieved sigh when there was a pulse, but it was very faint. Cursing, Yang carried her with controlled slowness, careful not to jostle her. However, when she wrapped a hand around her waist, her face furrowed in pain.

 _Her torso,_ the blonde observed. _Something must be wrong with her ribs. I gotta help her!_

After she grabbed her teammate's beloved rapier, she walked back to Beacon with a sense of urgency. The scarf was pressed over Weiss' eye the whole trip to stop the bleeding. She opted to go to a common area because she didn't want to wake her teammates and knew that the heiress hated the infirmary.

First, she'd try to help her, but if that failed, she would drag Weiss to the infirmary if she had to. She feared hospitals, but Yang supposed being scared was better than dying.

Yang handled Weiss as if she was glass and gently set her on one of the couches in the common area. After that, she set her rapier to the side just as carefully.

She counted her lucky stars that no one was up at this hour. Dawn would arrive soon.

Now she wanted to check the wound over her eye, so she cautiously removed the bloodied scarf. She leaned over and wiped the remaining blood over her eye and mouth, but was shocked at what she found.

 _The wound closed? Already? How's that even possible?_

It wasn't completely healed since there was a single line now over her left eye, but the wound was sealed nonetheless.

One of her wounds closed, but that didn't help her daunting appearance. There was blood all over her combat outfit and it wasn't dry yet.

When she realized her eye would be okay, Yang recalled Weiss' furrowed face when she picked her up. Knowing her job wasn't done, Yang took a deep breath. She'd only seen the technique once, but watching people is what helps her learn best.

Her hands hovered over the heiress' torso.

 _I can do this. I have to._

After a few minutes of concentrating on her aura, Yang successfully emitted a calm yellow glow from her palms. The glow was warm and welcoming, unlike the usual anger it held. She tried to do what she watched Weiss do during initiation.

Aura transfer.

A bead of sweat rolled down her face. She was nervous she'd mess up the technique, but knew she needed to have faith more than anything, so she swallowed her anxiety and persevered. After a deep breath, she pushed her own aura into Weiss' body, hoping to heal any internal damage.

It was difficult to manage such a feat. Weiss made it look easy. However, after controlling the calm light, Yang managed to direct the yellow ray to her teammate's aching torso.

Once Yang thought the heiress' ribs were no longer broken, she removed her hands. The yellow light faded, but then Yang felt huge fatigue so suddenly and hunched over. It was like she'd sprinted ten marathons in two seconds.

She panicked when darkness started to tug the corners of her vision, but she desperately fought it off. Weiss needed her right now and the last thing she wanted was to blackout. She sat on the couch next to her teammate and slumped over to make the blackness go away.

After several agonizing seconds and deep breaths, the darkness began to fade. She finally composed herself and sat up, wiping the final beads of sweat off her forehead.

When it was clear, Yang glanced at Weiss, who was still unconscious. She just hoped she'd wake up soon. As she gazed at the window, she realized dawn was arriving. The sun was almost peaking over the horizon with little trickles of light flowing.

Her gaze was torn away from the window when she heard a groan.

"Weiss," Yang called out concernedly and leaned over her. "Weiss, are you okay?"

It took a minute for her eyes to fully open, revealing those blue pools.

"Thank god," Yang sighed in relief. "How're you feeling? Does anything hurt?"

"Yang…" Weiss murmured and when she remembered what happened, she shot up. "What-" she clutched her ribs from a sudden shooting pain and grunted.

Yang was there and placed a gentle hand on her back in hopes to ease the pain. "Take it easy. I think something is wrong with your ribs. I tried to fix them with aura transfer-"

"Yang," Weiss interjected. "Aura transfer is a very risky technique. Promise me you won't use it again, at least until next year."

Yang couldn't help but sigh in relief, a prevalent smile present. The first thing her teammate did was scold her after she woke up. That must be a good sign.

"No can do," the blonde easily replied. "It's good for emergencies, like the one that just happened."

"Cardin," Weiss seethed and whipped her head around frantically. "Where is he?!"

"I'm sorry," Yang apologized. "I let him get away. You were in bad shape and I prioritized you over him..."

From the news, Weiss was glad she didn't fight a pureblood vampire. That wouldn't turn out well.

Now that she calmed down, Weiss felt an urge. The urge to bite Yang's neck for blood. Of course she'd feel like this. She just lost a ton of zehn and a human was close to her.

Very close.

Gripping the sofa, the heiress gulped and suppressed the sensation. She had many other things to worry about. She could sneak a blood bag later if she had to. What counted was the present, and from what Yang had said, she was _there_.

 _There_ at the fight. That meant she had to have heard something.

 _Wait…_ Weiss thought. _If she was there, did she hear anything? She's not acting like it._

"... Remnant to the princess?" Yang waved. "You there?" she was starting to think she somehow did aura transfer wrong when she spaced out like that.

"Yes, sorry," Weiss replied. "You were saying?"

After a relieved sigh, Yang continued. "There was a gash over your eye and I used-"

The heiress gazed at the red-orange scarf. "The scarf…"

Yang fiddled with it, not surprised when more blood smeared on her palms. "It'll wash out! Eventually…"

"It hasn't even been two days and it's already ruined," Weiss sounded disappointed and yet somehow, wasn't deterred.

"Yeah, good thing it's not torn up like the last one," the blonde said. She still intended to wear it.

Weiss lifted her hand to touch the gash over her left eye, only to feel none. Astonishment displayed her features, and that's when Yang filled her in.

"It already healed. Which by the way, is kind of amazing. I didn't even have to use aura transfer on it. But there's a scar over your eye now."

From Weiss' perked eyebrows, Yang frantically waved her hands.

"Don't worry! It doesn't look bad, I promise! It actually looks badass."

What concerned the heiress wasn't the fact that she got a new scar. It was the fact that Yang witnessed her injury heal abnormally quickly, without the use of aura transfer. A vampire's injuries heal rapidly. Her ribs needed a lot of more time because it was a massive injury and required more zehn and aura to fix, what she lacked after the fight.

 _She saw my wound heal. I need to know... did she see or hear anything? She's acting normal…_

"Yang."

"Yeah?"

"What were you doing there?" Weiss asked, trying to keep herself composed.

The blonde figured it was no use lying. "I saw you leave the room and followed you."

 _She followed me?!_

The more she thought about the possibility, the more she realized Yang _would_ follow her. She wasn't surprised, especially after she caught the blonde eavesdropping on the vampire's conversation during detention. Yang had proven to be curious, which was frustrating in times like this.

 _Wait, if she was there then… that means… did she see the whole fight?_

Her heartbeat quickened from the mere thought, her blue eyes widened in a panic.

"You…" Weiss tapered off. "Did you see anything strange?"

There were many strange things said during the fight, so Yang had to admit. "Yes."

The heiress had to stifle a gasp. "Such as…?" she was afraid to ask.

She could feel a bead of sweat roll down her forehead. Her adrenaline was pumping, and she clutched the sofa for some form of leverage. It was like her existence was hanging by a thread, and she had to hold on for dear life.

Lilac orbs clashed with azure in determination.

"There was talk about vampires and purebloods," Yang stated firmly, no doubt present. "You were both talking about it, and I heard you say something about this thing called zehn. By the way, how the hell did you create all that ice without dust? Are you a vampire? Are they real?"

Weiss looked like she had just been shot. Instead of the sudden shooting pains, now that was replaced by panic that raced through her entire being. Her lips trembled, no sound able to come out.

Everything she'd worked for… gone.

 _Everything I'd hoped to keep a secret! No, this can't be happening!_ her icy eyes were widened in shock as she stared at the couch, her head lowered. _She can't know about our existence! Now Blake and I must move back home and be isolated for the rest of our lives. The townspeople will try to kill us-_

"Hey!"

When Yang's shout didn't snap her out of her trance, she shook her shoulders. That seemed to work since the heiress raised her head to meet her worried gaze.

When she was sure Weiss was listening, Yang continued. "I understand if you don't want me to say a word about this. I'm not someone who spews people's secrets. Whatever happened, I'm sure has a good explanation."

Despite her reassuring words, Weiss was still in shock and couldn't speak.

A human.

A _human_ had found out about their existence.

 _I can't believe this is happening,_ Weiss was distraught, her adrenaline still pumping. _This is all my fault! Father will never trust us again!_

Gentle lilac pools met azure, and Yang gave her a genuine smile to show her there was no fear. If that was her teammate's secret, Yang would die to protect it, and she wanted to show her that.

"I'll keep my mouth shut about this whole thing," Yang promised. "But when you're ready, I want answers. You're my teammate, Weiss. And if something is bothering you, I want to know what's up."

After a few hitched breaths slipped out from Weiss, Yang began to rub soothing circles on her back to calm her down. Even though the heiress' world was almost shattered, the blonde was there. The concern etched on her face was unmistakable. Yang was the most extroverted person Weiss had ever met, which made it debatable if she could keep a secret.

However…

Even when Weiss treated her poorly, Yang was always there and had her back. Since she could remember meeting the rambunctious blonde, she was always there for her. The pointless arguments stopped for the most part and Weiss' change in attitude made their friendship take a better turn.

The troubled expression Yang sported told Weiss she meant what she said. In fact, Yang looked as frightened and shocked as she did. Meaning Yang may keep her secret.

This was a bad thing, but it wasn't the end of the world.

That is, if Yang really could keep her secret.

"O-okay," Weiss rasped, clearly still in shock. "I need to speak with a few people before I even think about telling you the situation. So please…"

The blonde had never heard Weiss this desperate before. Her tone was pleading, and that's when her lilac orbs shifted from concerned to determined.

"Don't worry," Yang gestured locking her lips. "My lips are sealed. Not even Ruby will know."

"Thank you…" Weiss sighed.

It was risky, but for now, Weiss _had_ to trust her teammate.

Trust is most important.

At least until she talked with her family about what to do. She didn't even know where to begin to handle the situation.

"Are you okay?" Yang asked, her voice laced with concern. "Did you get hurt anywhere else?"

After Weiss glided her fingers over her ribs, there was no more pain. "I'm fine now."

The blonde breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad."

It didn't get passed Weiss that Yang's main concern was her well-being. Instead of interrogating her. She was truly an understanding person.

Maybe she was the best person to find out about her secret?

"Come on," Yang offered her hand. "We should get back before our sisters notice we're gone."

Weiss took the kind hand and stood. "You're right."

Finally, they stood together and walked side-by-side in the dim hallways. Since Yang used aura transfer earlier, Weiss kept a firm hand around her waist. She knew how exhausted a person could get from using the technique, so she wanted to make sure Yang wouldn't keel over. Since the blonde was also worried about Weiss, she kept a secure grip around her teammate's waist as well. They were both not opposed to the contact, having been through a lot the last few hours.

Before they entered their room, Yang glanced at her friend's red stained combat outfit.

"By the way, you should change clothes. You're covered in blood."

Weiss simply looked down. Sure enough, the red liquid splattered all over her once snow-white outfit.

The blood reminded her that she needed a new dose, or her urges would soon overrun her.

"Don't worry. I will."

* * *

 **Yang kinda sorta knows, but not the details! Will she keep the secret? Or crack and tell her precious little sister?**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	25. You Need to Stall

**HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hopefully 2017 will be even better!**

* * *

Shortly after Yang went to bed, Weiss tossed her bloody combat clothes in the laundry basket and changed into a new pair instead of her nightgown. After what happened, there was no way she was going to be able to sleep, and she had to tell her family the news.

Yang found out.

That knowledge alone was terrifying.

She kept telling herself that maybe she was worrying too much, but then she remembered her vampire race was at stake.

Her family's reaction when she would tell them… she _dreaded_ it.

There was no way she could keep this to herself. No matter how much she doesn't want to, she has to tell them.

When everyone was fast asleep, Weiss snuck a blood bag from under Blake's bunk. This time, she made sure the brawler was out like a light. When she knew for sure, she grabbed the blood bag. Wanting to be undetected, she scampered in the bathroom when it was pitch black. Carefully, she turned on the light to the dimmest setting and drained the entire bag. It was gradual, but she felt relief when the pain dulled in her ribs.

Yang used aura transfer on her injuries, which helped immensely, but not completely. She was still a novice when it came to the technique, so what little pain Weiss had left was erased when she downed the delectable liquid.

As she stared at the remaining blood dripping down her chin, her gaze was taken by the new scar over her left eye. The only proof that the night had happened besides her old bloody clothes was the mark.

 _I got more than what I bargained for. I'm an idiot,_ Weiss thought. _I know he's a pureblood, so he's strong, no doubt. That much is certain,_ her stare remained on the pink line. _He's more powerful than I thought he was,_ she set a gentle finger over the scar. _Way too powerful, even for a pureblood. It's almost… frightening._

From birth, purebloods are powerful. She expected the fight to be at least evenly matched. She certainly didn't expect to be dominated like she was.

 _Still,_ she grit her teeth. _I'm a pureblood. I should've been able to stand my ground. If I can't hold my own against another one of my kind, then what good am I?_

She didn't like the new scar. It was a reminder that she lost a fight. It reminded her of that bully.

However, she didn't have time to worry about the new mark. Her main worries were far from her injuries.

 _Blake and Winter aren't going to be happy about this. Especially mother and father._

Weiss licked her lips clean of the red liquid and stared at herself in the mirror. She supposed tonight could've had a worse outcome. Yang promised to keep her secret safe for now, and the heiress got away with her life. That was something she could never repay.

 _The brute saved me. I need to emphasize that when talking about it with them..._

After sighing, she promptly disposed the blood bag and fetched her sleeping vampire sister. She needed to tell her siblings what happened and soon. The longer she kept it a secret, the more she felt guilty.

Her stomach was twisted in a knot, causing her to feel nauseous. Dust, she really wanted to avoid the conversation, but it had to be done.

She wanted to get this over and done with while their teammate's slept. The sun almost peaked over the horizon, so she estimated she had about an hour before students began their daily routines.

It was still early in the morning, but she knew Winter would be awake due to work for the company. Directly after the incident, she'd texted Winter that a video call was urgent. She responded a nanosecond later, so now she was waiting for Weiss to initiate the call.

With a sense of urgency, Weiss shook her sister's shoulder.

"Blake," Weiss whispered harshly. "Get up. Now."

Rarely had the heiress been demanding of Blake, so that caused her cat ears to flinch under her bow. Her amber eyes shot open and looked at her expectantly. "What is it?"

"It's urgent," Weiss informed. "Get dressed and then we're going to the roof to video call Winter."

Cat ears perked up, and the blood-faunus yanked down the covers. What made her more worried was that Weiss wasn't tired at all. In fact, she looked wide awake for it being so early in the morning. Dozens of questions swarmed her mind, but she ultimately knew she had to get ready like her sister requested.

"What happened?"

"I'll explain with both of you there. It would be easier."

A simple nod.

Once Blake finished getting dressed in silence, the vampire sisters headed to the roof. It was a little chilly outside, so Weiss didn't want Blake in the breeze in her pajamas. When they made it to the roof, it was deserted. Most of the time, it was only used when Pyrrha and Jaune trained, but that was in the evening.

The vampire sisters isolated themselves in a corner on the roof. Even though no one would come up there, they wanted to be extra cautious. Once they sat down on the cold concrete, Weiss pulled out her scroll and called the eldest sister. After a few rings, Winter answered.

"Weiss! Blake!" the pureblood greeted frantically. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Blake simply shrugged, her gaze fixed on Weiss.

Weiss took that as her cue to answer. "You know how Blake fought Cardin in combat class? You know… the male pureblood?"

"Yes, I recall the unpleasant vampire," Winter said, not sure where she was going with it.

"I needed answers more than anything. Answers as to why Blake suddenly dropped to the floor during their match," the heiress revealed. "So I met up with him just a few hours ago."

"What?!" Blake exclaimed. "What happened?!"

Aside from the aristocrat's outburst, Winter looked relatively calm.

Weiss continued in a levelled tone, trying not to show she was internally panicking. "I found out that he, in fact, did use his pureblood power to beat you," she spared a glance at Blake, then focused on the attentive Winter. "He used his _pureblood power_ in front of the _entire_ class -a class full of humans- and the instructor, who is, might I add, extremely intelligent."

Maybe she was nitpicking.

Still, she can't be too cautious.

Winter mumbled, her eyes narrowed in concentration. "He's a reckless one…"

Weiss gulped, if she thought he was reckless…

"Um… about that…"

Blake and Winter glared at the heiress and asked suspiciously in unison.

"What'd you do?"

Weiss cleared her throat. "Long story short, we fought. He was more powerful than I expected and he got the better of me."

That's when Blake noticed the new line down her left eye. "Did he give you that scar?"

"Yes," Weiss answered. "But that's not the-"

Blake cut her off, all traces of fatigue vanished now replaced with concern and anger. "Why couldn't you just forget it happened? Why didn't you let it go?!"

Weiss gave her a look, as if the answer was obvious. "You're my sister, Blake. After that…"

Images of her precious sister lying on the hard floor flashed through her mind. She was so still, so fragile, so defeated...

"...I couldn't just let it go!"

"Look at you!" Blake yelped, her eyes fixed on the mark carved on her sister's face. "You have a _scar_! You think that's easy for me to look at, knowing it's my fault?!"

"It's not! It was my decision, so-"

"Weiss!" Winter shouted.

The heiress flinched from the eldest's raised voice. First she was yelled at by Blake, now Winter. She expected as much.

"Damn you! You can't just go off on your own like that! What if he killed you?!"

A new husky voice was heard on Winter's side.

"It's okay, ice queen."

The younger siblings stared at the screen, wondering where _he_ was. That voice could only belong to one person. The new arrival was welcome in the conversation. He saved Weiss from being given a harsh lecture, that much was certain.

"Qrow," Winter inquired, her head tilted to the side to face the man, who was still off screen. "What do you want? We're in the middle of an important conversation."

"Sounds like you're just chiding the poor girl," Qrow observed. "Go on, Weiss," the huntsman stood next to Winter, who was sitting on her chair.

Now with permission, the heiress continued, albeit reluctantly. "Yang saved me. Cardin intended to fatally injure or kill me," she wasn't sure which, "but she made it there on time and took me to a safe place."

From her tone, Blake concluded Yang showed up just before a lethal hit. She was forever grateful to her partner, but she also felt like Weiss was hiding something.

Blake's tone rose in suspicion. "What's the catch?"

After a deep breath, Weiss revealed the truth. "Turns out, Yang was there the entire time. When I questioned her, she said she heard our talk about purebloods, vampires, and even saw me use zehn during the fight."

Dead silence.

The blood-faunus felt like she was going to be sick. They haven't even been at Beacon for long, and their secret was already exposed?

"I picked the Emerald Forest to avoid something like this, but that didn't help. This is all my fault," Weiss felt guilty, tears almost breached her eyes. "What do we do?" she felt completely helpless, and hoped that if anyone knew what to do in this situation, it would be Winter.

However, Winter remained poker faced. The younger siblings had no idea if that was a good or a bad thing. Meanwhile, Qrow had a mischievous smirk, amusement glinted in his red eyes.

"A human knows your secret, huh?" Qrow was more calm than anything. "We all know that can't be a good thing," sarcasm leaked in his tone.

He was Winter's _human_ bodyguard, after all. The fact that he knew Ruby and Yang was something he kept secret.

Hell, he's known them since they were born. He's known them far longer than the vampire siblings.

The vampires just didn't know any of that and he wanted to keep it that way.

For now.

"This is not something to take lightly," Winter stated while glaring daggers at the infuriatingly relaxed man.

"What do you suggest we do, Winter?" Weiss pleaded.

She needed guidance more than anything and had no idea what the first step would even be to fix this mess.

Winter's face and voice were stern. "You have to kill her."

From the comment, Qrow grinned. He knew Winter _too_ well.

The younger siblings' jaws dropped as they yelped in unison. "What?!"

For a brief second, the thought crossed Blake and Weiss' minds. Their hidden vampire existence was at risk. Nothing would be going overboard to protect their entire race.

However, Yang was their teammate they'd grown fond of. There was no way they could do something as cold as that, so they shut the idea down.

Ultimately, it was an outrageous suggestion and they felt moronic for even giving it thought.

Not caring if Winter would be mad, Weiss replied firmly. "Absolutely not. Remember, she saved my life."

It was her fault Yang found out, so she'd be damned if someone as wonderful as her died because of a stupid mistake.

From their reactions, Winter's poker face finally broke and she laughed. "I'm kidding! Kidding!"

"Not funny!" the two yelped.

"You have a horrible taste in jokes," Weiss almost seethed. "You said this was a serious situation, so I thought you weren't joking!" she said to justify her anger.

Winter just kept chuckling, unable to hold back her mirth.

"She's our teammate and my partner," Blake stated. "We could never do that. I wouldn't let that happen."

She spoke with conviction, and a peaceful silence followed.

"I say you trust her," Qrow suddenly chimed.

The three vampire siblings gasped in unison.

"What?!"

"Hey, you wanted my opinion," the huntsman slyly said.

"We wanted no such thing," Winter scoffed, not at all amused by the comment.

Qrow casually set a reassuring hand on her shoulder, ignoring the fact that steam was almost coming off her head. Despite this, Winter didn't seem bothered by the contact.

Qrow continued, his smirk as big as ever. "You should tell Ruby while you're at it."

"WHAT!?" the three yelped again.

"You don't even know them," Blake pointed out. "How can you be so trusting?"

"You're not even a vampire," Weiss pointed out a little harshly. "Do you really _know_ what it would mean if our existence were to be exposed? Blake is right. How can you be so trusting of humans you've never met?"

If Qrow told them his relationship with their teammates, that would undoubtedly make them understand his reasoning a lot more easily. However, he was having too much fun with this for his own personal amusement and he wasn't willing to let that go just yet. He could drag it out a little longer.

"It's the fact that you're teammates," Qrow easily replied. "I remember Winter giving you two a lecture about trust being the most important aspect on a team. Trust needs to be earned and tested."

If his advice rang true, this could be the biggest test the team may have to take.

Of course, he could only say those things because he trusts Ruby and Yang with his life. Given the opportunity, they would never expose the vampire race to humans. That's just the kind of people they were, and he understood if the vampires thought otherwise.

Obviously, it would be interesting if his kiddos found out about a secret race. But right now, Winter, Blake, and Weiss' reactions made this conversation and situation even more entertaining to him.

The huntsman knew he can't keep acting like he's oblivious forever. They'd all find out sooner or later, but for now, his plan was to lay low and watch the show.

"This is not something to 'test,'" Winter seethed. "This is a serious situation and should be dealt with appropriately."

"Only because you're making it serious," Qrow countered, his voice solemn.

"Wow," Weiss murmured to Blake. "I've never heard anyone talk back to Winter before."

Blake nodded and could only stare at the scene.

"Excuse me!?"

Qrow ignored the fuming pureblood and focused on the younger siblings. "Listen, this is important."

Even though they'd been talking for a while now, Qrow finally seemed serious as he leaned into the camera. Blake and Weiss followed suit, their full attention on him rather than Winter.

"For the time being, you need to stall. Weiss, since this is between you and Yang, you're in charge of distracting her for the time being, or at least of avoiding the subject. She might suspect you told Blake about the incident because you're sisters, but that doesn't matter."

"Stall?" Weiss asked in exasperation. "After everything I told you, you want me to _stall?!"_

"Simple enough, right?"

Their whole existence was at stake. The situation was dire, so she thought he'd give her something more grave. Like he'd tell her some form of hypnosis to make Yang forget. Weiss thought Qrow was out of his mind, but then again, this whole thing revolved around Yang.

Maybe, just maybe, they could trust her… for now.

If she did blurt the vampire race's secrets, who would believe her? Her sister might, but then what?

Weiss replied. "Yes, but-"

"Don't worry about it," Qrow advised. Despite his words, Weiss highly doubted she could do so. "Winter and I will handle this. When we come up with a plan, we'll let you two know."

There was obvious concern still etched on the vampires' faces, and he wanted to erase that feeling immediately.

"Don't worry," Qrow said sternly. "I promise no harm will come to your teammates. I'll personally see to that."

No matter what kind of a rough patch both sets of his kiddos are in, Qrow would be there for all four of the team members.

"Qrow," Winter called. "What are you planning?"

Qrow raised his eyebrows. "You mean what _we_ are planning."

Winter bit her lip in frustration. "Did Yang swear she won't tell anyone?"

Trusting people was difficult for her, but Winter believed in promises and vows. She liked to think people kept their word.

The heiress nodded. "Not even her sister," their bond was close, so Weiss still have some doubts about that. But she was willing to give Yang a chance to prove herself.

From the comment, Qrow chuckled, like it wasn't possible for Yang to not tell Ruby.

It was obvious Winter displeased with Qrow's attitude when she glared daggers at him again.

She had no choice.

She had trust in him.

And why not? She trusted him with her life, why not this? Maybe he has trick up his sleeve.

Winter's glare shifted back to her usual poker face. "Stay away from that pureblood. He's unpredictable and dangerous," after she received nods from both younger vampires, she continued. "I guess just… do what Qrow says and stall. I don't know what he has in mind, but do not tell Yang _anything_ until we give you the 'okay.'"

"Understood," the younger siblings replied in unison.

"I mean it," Winter's ice blue eyes pried into their souls, her expression unrelenting. "Don't tell Yang anything. If she brings it up, change the subject, or tell her you must stay quiet until you hear from us, which is the truth. Say you have no choice but to keep quiet, and if she can't respect that, then maybe she's not a good teammate."

"Those are some wise words, ice queen," Qrow smiled, placing full trust in Winter. "I have no doubt everything will be okay."

The younger siblings nodded and Weiss replied. "Alright then."

"Simple enough," Blake added.

Weiss' hesitation disappeared when a cheeky grin took its place. "You trust his judgement, Winter."

Winter's cheeks flushed. "He may be an idiot but he can pull through in times like this."

Although that was both an insult and a compliment rolled into one, Qrow was taken aback by the praise.

"I'm not used to your praise," Qrow smirked. "Hell must've frozen over."

"Why you-"

Blake and Weiss were surprised when the call ended so abruptly.

"Winter really doesn't like people seeing her flustered," Blake observed, amusement in her tone.

The heiress smiled. "You can say that again."

After some much needed shared laughter, a comfortable silence followed until Blake's curiosity got the best of her.

"Weiss," Blake said when she scanned her sister's eye once more. "Are you sure you're okay? Does the scar hurt?"

"I assure you, it's fine," Weiss replied.

Worried amber eyes examined her sister's appearance. While Weiss told her the mark was by no means Blake's fault, they headed back to their room. By now, the sun was over the horizon and their teammates would wake soon. Weiss told her sister everything that happened and included the fact that she drank one of the spare blood bags, so they would have to make an infirmary run for more soon.

When Weiss finished the story, Blake was more calm. Especially after the talk they just had with both adults. Their reassurances and advice eased her nerves.

They entered their room and were as quiet as mice. As expected, Ruby and Yang were still asleep, so they didn't make a sound. In no time, they changed back into their pajamas and went to their respective bunks to not raise suspicion.

Unbeknownst to the vampires, a pair of silver eyes had cracked open and watched their every move.

* * *

 **The vampire sisters just can't catch a break, can they?**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	26. Rumors

School started as usual a few hours later. It was like last night never happened, except it did, leaving the vampire sisters on edge.

Throughout the day, Weiss kept doubting her blonde teammate. She caught herself staring at Yang, wondering if she told her secret to someone.

Yang noticed her uneasiness. She wished her friend would have more faith in her, but she understood her paranoia.

And kept her promise to Weiss.

Despite Yang's personality, she could keep her lips locked if need be. As far as the vampire sisters could tell, everything was normal. No one treated or looked at them differently.

Except for their leader.

From the moment she woke up, Ruby knew something was off.

For being younger than them, Ruby was very perceptive. It was certainly a trait the vampires didn't expect from her. Especially since she sometimes acted like a child and was the most immature person on the team. It's true that she's their leader, meaning she had some leadership qualities, but perceptiveness was the one trait they least expected her to possess.

It wasn't hard for Ruby to tell her team was keeping something from her. Her sister was spacing out, even more than usual. At first, Ruby thought it was because she was tired, but there were no signs of fatigue in her lilac eyes. Another thing that set off alarm bells was when she watched Weiss and Blake arrive in their room just before dawn. Ruby kept wondering what they were doing up that early. Sure, sometimes they liked to train together, but she's never seen them up _that_ early. A simple training session was a good guess, but her theory was doubtful when she noticed those two didn't even look like they worked up a sweat at the time.

Another thing worried Ruby.

When light trickled in their room, that's when she saw Weiss' new scar over her eye.

That settled it.

Something was wrong.

Something happened. More than likely last night.

Ruby tried to figure out why they wouldn't tell her anything. Maybe it was personal, but she was their leader. If something bothered her teammates, she wanted to help.

Naturally, the first thing she did was the up-front approach. Before class, she directly asked Weiss how she got the scar and why they were awake earlier. While doing so, she looked for the tell-tale signs of the barest hint of lying.

Luckily beforehand, the vampire sisters planned an excuse. Over the years, the vampires had nailed their poker faces and fake smiles.

The excuse was that they snuck out for late night training. The team had trained together, so sparring as sisters shouldn't be odd. After Blake lost her fight with Cardin and wanted to improve, they figured Ruby may think it was somewhat believable.

How Weiss got her scar was a different story.

Weiss mishandled Myrtenaster during an attack.

It was _so_ lame. An incredibly lame excuse, at least compared to what actually happened. Everyone knew Weiss was practically an expert with her rapier.

Naturally, Ruby didn't look like she bought it. The sisters could easily tell she was confused and sadder that they lied.

If they didn't want to tell her that was fine. She could tell it was something they didn't want talk about, so she reluctantly didn't press the matter.

However, she felt like the odd one out. Her three teammates knew something she didn't and there was nothing she could do about it. Unless she ordered them to tell her, but the last thing she wanted to do was use her authoritative position for personal gain.

So she fell into silence about the matter.

That's when the vampire sisters knew they had one of the most understanding team leaders the world could offer.

They appreciated it. More than Ruby would ever know.

Currently, teams RWBY and JNPR sat in the middle of the school cafeteria. Of course, the secretive vampire sisters chose to eat the same soup. It was no surprise when Yang wolfed down a cheeseburger and Ruby devoured her cookies.

Despite the leader knowing something was amiss, her appetite didn't change.

Wanting to lighten the mood, Weiss called out. "Ruby, are you seriously just eating cookies for lunch? You don't even have an entré. That's classified as a snack."

From the observation, Yang sent her white-haired teammate a look. "Are you _really_ surprised?"

Now that she mentioned it…

"I guess not."

"Hey, Ywang," Ruby pointed to her scarf, still munching her cookies. After she hardly swallowed, she stared at the item around her sister's neck. "What happened to it? Why's it kinda red?"

Maybe that was connected to what they weren't telling her. Ruby didn't know. But the red stains on the orange scarf could easily pass as washed out blood. She hoped that wasn't the case and examined her sister's reaction.

The blonde replied quickly. A little _too_ quickly, like she already had an excuse she'd been waiting to use.

"I put it on the wrong setting in the washing machine," Yang rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "It was really stupid of me. And Weiss bought me it too," her smile turned to a teasing pout.

Calculating silver eyes examined the scarf as if it would go off like a bomb. First they made Weiss look moronic in mishandling her beloved rapier, now here Yang was, presenting herself as a typical imbecile who didn't know how to do laundry. From a young age, Yang did her own laundry. She even did her little sister's.

Ruby didn't buy it for a moment. She fixed her hardened, silver eyes on her sister's face.

"You're a horrible liar…" she murmured more out of disappointment than observation.

She lived with Yang majority of her life, so Ruby knew when her sister was lying or not. It was as easy to tell as counting to ten. The vampires were a different story, but Ruby was somewhat confident in her previous theories.

No one heard the comment except Blake. Her cat ears flinched from the tone used, like she was more crestfallen than anything. Right after, Blake placed a comforting hand on her leader's back.

The aristocrat knew Ruby was smart, so she knew she was suspicious, but most of all, downcast that her sister was hiding something from her.

Yang's mood was starting to sour, her head slightly lowered. The last thing she wanted was to upset her baby sister, but she had a promise to keep.

And she _always_ keeps her promises.

"Yang," the call of her name from her white-clad teammate caused her to smile. "It's fine," the heiress went along with the laundry excuse and tried not to make it a big deal.

The blonde set her hand on her chest dramatically. "You must hate me."

From the comment, Weiss set the spoon down and pried her eyes away from her food. It seemed Yang needed her full attention as she glared at her dead in the eyes. "Don't be a brute."

Yang, keeping things lighthearted, snickered in delight. "I can never resist teasing the princess!"

When she said the nickname, Jaune stopped talking with Nora for a brief second to chime in. "You call each other 'brute' and 'princess'? Why?"

With an ear-to-ear grin, Nora simply pointed at the pair. "Cuz it fits, silly!"

"What Nora said," Yang leaned back in her chair in satisfaction.

"I don't think you should be proud of that," Weiss pointed out after swallowing her soup.

Yang's signature smirk grew. The trait reminded Weiss of Qrow's shit-eating grin sometimes. Especially from their previous call. The huntsman had a carefree attitude like her, too. She didn't know who irked her more, Yang or Qrow.

"Puh-lease," the blonde said with amusement. "Everyone digs this, you don't have to pretend you don't like~" she gestured to her whole body.

Easily enough, Jaune and Weiss' faces heated up.

Internally, Weiss made a decision. Yang really did annoy her more than the huntsman.

"You're so full of yourself," Ruby remarked as she recalled the time they trained as a team. The huntress-in-training had erupted into flames on purpose to put on a show. Even if her carefree attitude was sometimes annoying, it was also what made Yang, well, Yang.

Everyone at the table fell silent until Nora stood.

"Pyrrha could take you!"

The amazon, who wasn't paying much attention until she heard Nora's enthusiastic yell, did a spit-take. "What?!"

Determined lilac glared at confused emerald eyes.

Both didn't stand down. Their stares were unyielding and Yang's was merciless. As the blonde leaned over the table, the vampire sisters had to scoot their bowls out of the way or their soups would be knocked over.

"Is that a challenge, Pyrrha?"

"I didn't say that," Pyrrha frantically waved her arms. "It wasn't me."

"Her beauty has been challenged," Blake chimed. "This is not something to trifle with."

Ruby half-snorted, half-laughed. "You're so weird, Blake."

Just as Yang was about to speak again, her gaze landed on a familiar bulky presence. In fact, it stole everyone's attention when he walked by.

A sudden burst of pride surged through the smirking blonde from the sight.

Yang nudged Weiss to get her attention. A lot of people disliked the boy, but she figured Weiss would get the most amusement out of his appearance than anyone. Seeing him like that made her feel satisfied, so she could only imagine how it'd make Weiss feel. Reluctantly, the vampire set the spoon on her napkin and looked to where her teammate was pointing.

There he was, in full view, Cardin Winchester.

It was easy to tell he got _rekt_.

The heiress covered her mouth to hide the fact that her jaw dropped from the sight.

It was obvious that Cardin still didn't recover from the blows Yang dealt earlier that day. There were bruises all over his face. Most of them were an ugly purple and green color. There was no swelling present, his face was just an overall icky pallor. His nose was also crooked ever so slightly, a small detail Weiss caught.

Typically, purebloods heal faster and more easily than humans, so the fact that he _still_ wasn't healed meant one thing:

Yang beat the shit out of him.

For a purebloood, this was a disgrace- getting beaten by a human. The whole day, Weiss was hard on herself for underestimating her opponent, but now he knew how she felt for losing. How she felt about her defeat.

And it was _glorious._

 _She…_ Weiss was still in total shock. _She beat him up?!_

In her fight against him, she only landed a few strikes at best. Her blonde teammate was certainly impressive.

Weiss' reaction was even better than Yang imagined. The brawler smirked and she sent the baffled girl a wink.

It wasn't just Yang and Weiss who saw his battered face, it was everyone at the , everyone in the cafeteria was staring at the pureblood. Slowly, Cardin made his way over to his team, his head lowered slightly. Weiss guessed it was to avoid all the unwanted and overbearing stares. Cardin eventually sat down with his team to eat lunch. The room was stunned into silence, but the chit-chat gradually picked up again when people were done gawking at him.

Students were making their own predictions of what happened to the bully. Rumors were flying already.

Blake's cat ears flinched under her bow. A sly smirk crossed her lips when she heard several different teams discussing and coming up with their own guesses as to what happened. Of course, none of them were correct.

A wave of fulfillment washed over her since she knew exactly what happened to Winchester. He had it coming.

Jaune leaned in and lowly whispered. "What the heck happened to him?"

"Someone beat up Cardin?" Nora exasperated. "Whoever did needs a medal."

As though she admitted it, Yang held up her hand high and proud. Nora happily high-fived it.

"Damn right," the blonde smirked as she leered at the boy.

Although Winchester was with his team and halfway across the room, indigo and lilac clashed in a fierce battle for dominance.

It was as though Yang was daring him to come near her teammate. The brawler was like a lion protecting her pride as she glared into his ugly soul.

This didn't go unnoticed by Ruby.

Her partner's new scar, her sister's scarf was dyed crimson, his bruised face, and the subtle reassurances from Blake were all pieces of a puzzle from last night.

If only she could put them together.

Blake gazed at Yang, knowing full well she was the one who beat him up. Noticing she was staring behind her, she turned around and glanced at Cardin. "He probably deserved it."

Cardin only clenched his jaw when her pair of amber eyes settled on him. Despite that, he tried to go back to minding his own business and broke eye contact with the persistent brawler.

While majority of people at the table tried to figure out what happened or who was responsible, Weiss leaned into Yang's ear. The last thing she wanted was people knowing about last night.

She whispered lowly, making sure no one would hear.

"I thought you said you avoided a fight with him."

A sudden blush crept on Yang's cheeks when there was breeze in her ear that was her teammate's sweet voice. She almost gasped since she didn't expect it, but then remembered the comment and replied. "That wasn't a fight," she calmly murmured. "Look at him, it was completely one sided."

The heiress could only stare at her teammate in utter bewilderment.

If a human and pureblood fought, Weiss worried Yang would get killed. Instead, the result was the complete opposite of what she expected.

Not only did she save her from that damned pureblood, she pummeled him. She didn't know how to react, so she said what came to mind and meant every word.

"Thank you…"

It took a moment to understand what she was being thanked for. When she realized why, Yang beamed a grin and set a reassuring hand on the smaller girl's back.

"Trust me, it was my pleasure."

* * *

After lunch and their remaining classes, team RWBY went to Vale. They invited team JNPR, but according to Nora, they already had a pancake party planned that evening.

The four members didn't bat an eye from the explanation. That was something team JNPR would schedule.

The four members of team RWBY strolled through town with no destination in mind. Their leader whistled a chipper tune while the other three had smiles on their faces and followed the excited girl.

Well, not _everyone_ was smiling. Weiss was growing more irritated by the second.

"Why are we here?" Weiss huffed. "There's nothing to do."

By this point, they'd been wandering for several minutes and made no solid plan. In her mind, the least they could do was be productive.

"Would you relax for once, Weissy?" Ruby asked her partner. "As team leader I order you to relax!"

"It doesn't work like that, Rubes," Yang let slip a faint chuckle. Of course her sister would use her position as leader to say something as silly as that.

"You know what we could be doing?" the heiress asked the three. "Our assignments."

"Ugh," Blake groaned. "How about no."

"I agree with Blakey," Yang nodded. "Hard pass."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Then what do you suggest we-"

She didn't finish her sentence when her icy eyes landed on an unexpected shadow in the distance.

Everything in the heiress' entire being told her to _move._ Allowing pure adrenaline to take over, she conjured up dozens of glyphs and made a beeline towards the mass.

Without warning, her team watched her shoot off like a rocket. Their hair rustled violently from how suddenly she took off.

Knowing something was wrong, Ruby trusted her partner to handle it and gave her team orders.

"Yang! Blake!" she barked. "Get the citizens out of the area!"

If that mass really was a grimm, she wanted as less citizens in the area as possible.

"But Rubes-"

"Now!"

This wasn't the time to argue, so Blake grabbed her partner's arm. "Okay!"

The two partners bolted off to find any citizens wandering the streets. Based on Ruby's tone, this was serious and they had to act _now_.

When she knew they'd do their job, the leader used her speed semblance to catch up to her partner, who was fighting an alpha beowolf. Behind Weiss was a little boy, who cowered behind her, clearly frightened.

 _Grimm are in the city again!?_ Ruby asked herself. _I forgot about last time! How is this even possible?!_

In a flash, Ruby whisked the kid away and left the beast to her partner. She could tell Weiss was holding back since the random boy's life was threatened, but now Weiss could use her aura to the fullest against the intimidating grimm.

When the boy was safe, Ruby left him in her other teammate's protection. Yang and Blake were doing a good job of rounding up citizens and coaxing them inside nearby buildings.

Wasting no time, Ruby darted over to her partner to help her fight the alpha. However, when she got close, she was slammed from behind.

The wind was knocked out of her lungs as she crashed onto the concrete. Frantically, she stood and breathed heavily, trying to see what had hit her.

 _That_ was certainly the last thing she expected to see in the middle of the city.

One of the heads slithered high in the air while its split tongue stuck out repeatedly.

 _A king taijitu?! Beowolves are one thing, but this giant snake is another!_ Now Ruby knew for a fact that these grimm weren't here by chance. This was planned. _How'd it get in the city without being detected?!_

To challenge her new opponent, Ruby extended her scythe. The sharp weapon stood tall and proud like its user. She gave a war cry and used her semblance to bolt around the two-headed snake, hoping to get in its blind spot.

The strategy worked like a charm. The grimm was noticeably confused when its opponent 'disappeared.' It's head whipped around to look for a blob of red with no luck. Seeing her chance, Ruby jumped extremely high with the recoil on her weapon. The sharp end cut clean through one of the heads of the beast.

The muscly snake shrieked in pain and thrashed wildly. As a defense mechanism, the beast's tail whipped around violently, causing resounding thuds to echo.

Since the tail is the most sensitive part of that grimm's body, the moment it contacted Ruby's red hood, it snatched her in mid-hair. Once she was firmly in its grip, it hissed in victory.

Then constricted.

Some air was forced out of her lungs, and the leader felt herself slowly suffocating. She could've called out to Weiss, but she didn't want to waste what little oxygen she had left. Her partner was near, but she was locked in combat with another pair of beowolves. If she was distracted during her fight, she could easily be injured. Calling out to her was out of the question. As far as Ruby could see, Blake and Yang were nowhere, either.

Thinking of another plan, Ruby tried to squirm out of the lethal grip, but each time she did, the tail tightened.

As its iron grip binded, all the energy was sapped from her body. She no longer even had the energy to breathe, finding it difficult. Ruby could feel her face turning blue as the grasp on her scythe loosened. She couldn't hold it for a second longer and it fell to the ground.

Good thing she did, too. Because the terrifying clink that thudded loudly was what stole Weiss' attention.

It may have gotten her attention, but the beowolves kept clawing at her to make the vampire pay attention to them. She could only dodge some swipes and she called out desperately, hoping for someone to hear:

"Ruby!"

Before the leader even knew what was happening, the death grip slackened. She could suddenly breathe again-

and then she fell to the ground.

Ruby hit the concrete hardly, directly on her shoulder. Nothing softened the impact except her remaining aura. She had some leftover, but if it completely depleted, she was sure her shoulder would be broken. After she rolled over, she desperately gasped for air. When she finally caught her breath, she found the reason why the beast hadn't attacked her when she was easy prey.

"Leave her alone!"

It was a husky voice, definitely someone she'd never heard before. Undoubtedly, he wasn't a member of her team. The male was locked in fierce combat with the grimm. From what she could discern, multiple glowing clones of the boy were attacking the oversized beast from all sides.

She was positive she'd never seen him before. At least not around Beacon, but based on his fighting style, he was a hunter-in-training.

After calling off the shining clones, the newcomer leapt above the last head, his figure silhouetted in the sunlight.

The blond boy was clearly enjoying himself as he jumped all around the grimm with nimbleness and athletic ability. When Ruby got a closer look, she realized why he was so fast and agile. He was using an appendage -what seemed to be a tail- as an advantage.

"Take this!" he slammed his staff on the snake's massive throat.

That seemed to do the trick when the impact emitted a violent shock wave. It caused the beast to open its jaws and shriek in pain. The immense screech almost knocked Ruby and the faunus of their feet. However, the newcomer stood his ground after the screech and when sharp fangs attempted to bite him.

The faunus used this as his chance to collapse the staff into what appeared to be a nunchaku. He used his tail to swing around to gain momentum and shot the inside of his opponent's mouth. The beast hissed, baring its deadly fangs before its insides gushed a dense black smoke. Almost immediately, the grimm collapsed on the harsh concrete.

"Sack of shit..." the faunus mumbled. His tone suggested he'd done this a thousand times today. Despite his annoyance, he didn't take his stern blue eyes off the creature until the corpse started to wither away.

By the time he killed the powerful grimm, Blake, Yang, and Weiss made it back over to Ruby. The whole team had front row seats of the fight. They were in complete awe from the show. Not only did the stranger save Ruby, he took down the merciless grimm in a few seconds flat.

The blond faunus smirked when he saw their reactions. "Sup," he greeted. "The name's Sun."

Ruby was too busy scanning her surroundings for more possible threats. Her scythe was clutched tightly in her grasp as she whipped around. Thankfully, the area was vacant of both citizens and grimm. After sighing in relief, Ruby collapsed her scythe to its compact form and faced the newcomer.

"Sun," Ruby repeated. "Thanks for saving me."

"It's no big deal," the monkey faunus replied. "What're your names?"

"I'm Ruby!"

"I'm Weiss."

"Blake."

"I'm Yang but get called 'brute' a lot."

That comment earned a playful glower from her white-clad teammate.

"Good to meet ya," Sun said to all of them and he directed a wink at Blake.

Heat rushed to the aristocrat's cheeks. She didn't know how to react, so she just shyly glanced away.

Her three other teammates noticed the flirtatious gesture. Yang and Weiss shared a look while Ruby was left to pout. _He_ could get her crush to blush, but not her?

Who was this guy?

The leader was jealous Sun could be so forward.

Then the reason why he was so confident hit her like a ton of bricks as she stared at him. The abs. It had to be the abs.

Weiss thought out loud. "This is the second time grimm were in the city."

The first time was the vampire sisters encounter with the troublesome sisters. The team forgot all about how strange it was for grimm to be there because they were so riled up when they met each other.

"Actually, it's been more than that," Sun corrected. "That's why I come here more often. No one knows why, but there's rumors it's the White Fang's doing."

From the mention of the White Fang, Blake tightened her fists until her knuckles turned white. "Is there proof?"

"Nah, they're just lame rumors," Sun informed. "I was gonna go to their hideout to prove them true or false. It's a pain not knowing why grimm keep breaking in a well-guarded city, so I was gonna go with my friend."

"You can't just have two people for your mission," Ruby chirped. "We'll help you."

"Hey," Weiss interjected, her tone suddenly got defensive. "Don't drag us into his problems."

"This is our city too, Weissy!" Ruby replied in a heartbeat. "Don't you wanna protect it?"

Weiss was about to retort, but found herself at loss for words. She was interested in this mystery, but if it involved _that_ organization, she wanted to stay away.

For Blake's sake.

Sun's monkey tail whipped around. He was certainly excited from the possibility. But first, he wanted to cover basic information. "What school do you guys go to?"

"Beacon," Yang answered. "It's a great academy and it's really nice."

"That's cool," Sun replied. "Me and my buddies go to Haven."

From that, Weiss' head tilted ever-so-slightly. She asked the question everyone pondered. "Then why're you here? It's out of the way."

"A long way outta the way," Yang added, she couldn't believe he travelled that far.

"I love Vale," Sun easily stated. "I came here all the time as a kid. I just want to protect it since it's like my second home."

"More reason for us to help. What do ya say, Sun?" Ruby held out her hand. "Want to work together?"

A large grin spread on his face and he slapped his firm hand in hers, giving it a simple shake.

They made the deal.

"Sure, I'll come by so we can plan. I'll bring my friend along."

"You're bringing even more people into this?" Weiss scoffed. If this was a dangerous situation, then she'd want as less people to be involved as possible.

If the White Fang is behind these attacks, then the heiress didn't know what she'd do.

What Blake would do.

"Yeah, that's what friends are for," Sun said obviously. "You're supposed to get them involved."

Little did the monkey faunus know, those words resonated within the vampire sisters. They'd kept their backgrounds a secret from their closest friends. The troublesome sisters knew almost nothing about them and their pasts, besides Yang, who was being stalled for now.

Sun strutted to Blake with his ever-present grin. "I'll drop by soon for you," he sent another wink.

Just like that, Blake was blushing again.

He was gone as soon as he came and used his faunus appendage to spring away.

"Well…" Yang broke the silence. "That was a thing."

* * *

 **Sun has joined the fray!**

 **Dunno if you forgot or not, but the grimm invasions have been a problem since the beginning~**

 **Sorry for the long chapter. Didn't expect it to be this long at all.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**

…

 **Git rekt, Cardin.**


	27. My Team Included

"This is hopeless!" Nora banged her head repeatedly against the table. If she could, she would be eating pancakes right now instead of trying to hammer in material she didn't understand.

She had been trying to study for several minutes, but nothing stuck in her brain. She was growing restless, especially since she'd been cooped up in the library for almost two hours.

Weiss smacked her upside the head. "It is with that attitude. Now focus."

The vampire was in no mood for distractions. Her essay was almost finished and she wasn't about to allow the rowdy orange-haired girl to get her sidetracked.

"Owie!" Nora rubbed her head from the flick. Truthfully, it didn't hurt, she just said that out of reflex. "I'd rather read the comic Jaune's reading."

Icy eyes narrowed and her tone lowered menacingly, almost coming out as a hiss. "He's _what_?"

When Jaune heard Nora sputter his name, he frantically threw the comic across the room. It was out of fear. He'd never heard the resident ice queen sound like that. It was like her aura suddenly turned from the pleasant chill it normally emitted to an almost murderous intent.

"I-I don't know what she's talking about," Jaune poorly defended.

Instead of scolding the slacker, Weiss faced her blonde teammate. "Yang, you're supposed to watch him!"

From that, Jaune's voice raised in alarm. "Don't treat me like I'm a kid!"

"I will treat you as what you are!"

Teams RWBY and JNPR were in the library studying and finishing their assignments. They broke into pairs from different teams when the pairs from their own teams kept getting distracted. The strategy worked for a while, but it was starting to wear off. By now, it was probably due to boredom of being in there for a long time instead of simply being distracted.

Each of them spent a solid hour working on assignments, but now some members of the group were getting fidgety.

"Who am I kidding?" Weiss asked herself. "That brute couldn't watch a rock."

"Because rocks are boring," Yang easily replied.

Meanwhile, Blake and Ren were getting along fine and had finished their assignments with each other's help about an hour ago. The two were usually silent when they fell into the zone to focus, so they didn't cause trouble. Since they both finished their assignments, Ren watched the amusing scene while Blake read one of her books she hadn't cracked open in a long time.

"Pairing the two blondes together wasn't a good idea..." Weiss trailed off, blatantly egging her teammate on.

"We heard that!" Yang and Jaune yelped in unison.

On the other side of the narrow table was Pyrrha and Ruby. They made a good team when it came to studying. They were both smart, so they didn't need each other's help often but valued the other's opinions. This especially helped on the essays they were assigned, which were opinionated. They valued each other's morals and outlooks on life, so it was interesting to hear from another.

"Where do you think fairy tales originated?" Ruby asked, referring to her assignment.

Pyrrha shrugged, although she put some thought into her answer. "I think every fairytale bares a hint of truth. No matter how bizarre the tale, there's a true story behind it. I think that's why they've stayed alive and have been passed down for generations."

Ruby scribbled that down. "You're probably right."

The amazon sent her a simple smile, noting that Ruby highly respected her opinion.

"Ah, Yang!" Weiss squealed. "Put me down this instant!"

Pyrrha and Ruby glanced up to find Yang swinging Weiss around. The heiress was desperately trying to squirm out of her grasp, but Yang held her waist. Weiss wanted her feet to touch the ground, but they ended up flying all over the place, almost knocking down some nearby bookshelves. Yang was playing with her like she was a doll.

"Take back what you said about blondes!" Yang fired back, although her tone was a bit teasing.

"Never!"

"Guys!" Nora shouted. "We're in a library, so shush!"

The heiress clutched her sides as she subtly cringed. Yang had an iron grip around them. She was starting to lose her breath from being rocked around so much. Her feet were still off the floor as she glanced at the brawler.

"Even _Nora_ has to tell you to shut up. That says something."

"Hey," the blonde started, joking tone no longer present. "She was talking to the both of us!"

Weiss continued to squirm out of her grip, her hands trying to pry Yang's off her hips. "Mainly to you, now put me down!"

The two teams were surprised they hadn't been kicked out of the library by now. They were certainly causing a ruckus. One of the reasons they probably weren't asked to leave by this point was because not very many students were around. If they were, they moved away from the unruly group.

A soft sigh escaped Yang and she gradually set Weiss on the carpet. "Your wish is my command, princess."

Once she firmly stood, the vampire dusted herself off to get the wrinkles out of her school uniform. "Will you stop with that nonsense? Did you and Jaune get anything done?"

"We sure did," Yang beamed a smile, a mischievous smirk present.

"Wait, really?" Weiss almost couldn't believe it.

"That comic was really good!" the blonde finished.

Weiss smacked her upside the head.

"Ow!" Yang yelped. "What was that for?!"

"For being a brute!"

As they bickered, the remaining team members tried to zone out their voices. Secretly, they hoped a librarian would come by to stop them.

Ruby slightly smiled and glanced to the right, at Pyrrha. "It hasn't been like this for a while."

Pyrrha shut her textbook. She was officially done trying to ignore their pointless arguing. "Are you telling me they used to be like this all the time?"

"Worse," the leader corrected. "Worse than this."

"How did you survive?" the amazon's gaze fixed on the white and yellow duo.

Ruby put her hand under her chin as she watched the pair bicker. "That's what I'm wondering."

* * *

Later that night, team RWBY was waiting for a certain monkey faunus to arrive. They had no idea when he would show up, but he promised he'd be there before the sun set.

They didn't know how he'd get to their room since Beacon required keys to get inside, but they somehow knew he would be there.

The team stood in the middle of their room, each member was in their respective combat outfits. Their weapons were also equipped and ready to go for the mission.

"Are we really doing this?" Weiss asked the team. "It's risky. Not to mention dangerous."

"Which is why we're doing this together," Ruby replied. "We might as well help out Sun. Besides, I'm also really interested to see if the White Fang is responsible for dropping grimm in the city."

"What if they're not?" Blake asked. "Then what?"

The aristocrat hoped with all her heart and soul the organization wasn't behind this. She wanted to distance herself from it as much as possible. Although for what they had planned, that was impossible. Instead of running away from her problems like she normally does, tonight she'd have to face them head-on.

She wasn't looking forward to it.

"We'll just have to figure it out for ourselves," Yang chimed. "Grimm in the city are dangerous. If we don't figure out who or what's behind this, people will eventually get hurt. Whatever's behind this doesn't care who gets hurt."

"And dangerous enough to be put behind bars," the blood-faunus finished.

At least what they were planning to do wouldn't be in vain. If the White Fang was behind this plot, they could put whoever's responsible behind bars. If the well-known organization wasn't working from the shadows, then they could rule it out and try to hunt down the real culprit.

"Exactly," Ruby stated. "We need to-"

A knock on the window.

The four jumped back, clearly startled from the sudden sound. The team stared at the transparent glass, wondering what made the noise.

"Why's the window knocking?" Yang asked.

Ruby shook off the scare opened it.

A few seconds later, the familiar blond boy dropped down from a tree. He used his tail as leverage and he gave them the widest grin.

"Sun!" Ruby exclaimed.

Sun dangled upside down like a possum. "Hey, told ya I'd be here! I brought Neptune."

The four poked their heads out to find the blue-haired boy standing on a ledge. His body was pressed against the wall for dear life. Although he looked calm, it was easy to tell he was panicking on the inside.

"Sup?"

"How did you even get up here?" Ruby asked him.

"I have my ways," Neptune replied a bit slyly. Then he looked down and his tough facade instantly faded. "Seriously though, can I come in? We're like, really high up right now."

Once Neptune landed inside, he didn't introduce himself to anyone. He didn't even spare a glance at any of the members, except for one.

He strutted up to Weiss with his twinkling grin. "Hello there, snow angel."

The heiress internally cringed. Every time she heard that nickname she either thought of that damned pureblood or Jaune.

Minus one point.

Neptune gently grasped her hand and held it up as he smoothly inched closer to her.

Negative two points. Unwanted and unpermitted contact always irritated her.

His tone lowered charmingly and sweetly as both pairs of blue eyes met. "I never caught your name."

Although Weiss wasn't interested, she couldn't help but think he was handsome, but that could only take someone so far.

Not wanting to be rude, she replied. "It's-"

Weiss was cut off when Yang practically swatted the boy's hand away, breaking the hand-holding contact. "Princess. Her name is princess. I'm brute," she pointed to Blake. "That's booky," she pointed to Ruby. "And that's cookie addict."

Blake wasn't amused. "Booky?"

"Cuz you like books," the blonde explained.

"Guys, cut it out," Sun said. "Neptune, that's Weiss, Blake, Yang, and their leader, Ruby."

"Fearless leader," Ruby corrected. "Get it right."

"Right, how could I forget?" Sun went along with the joking.

Making small talk was not Blake's style. She wanted to get the details of the mission as soon as possible, so she cut in.

"What's the plan?" Blake wanted to get down to business. She was growing restless and wanted the night to be over with already. "How will we break into their hideout?"

Sun raised his hand. "I'm going inside since I'm the only faunus here."

"You can't go alone," Ruby reminded. "That's way too dangerous."

Weiss sighed. "This whole idea is dangerous."

Her vampire sister could only settle a reassuring hand on her back.

"Yeah," Neptune agreed. "There needs to be at _least_ one more person. Everyone knows you need to have partners."

"Look at 'em!" Sun pointed. "They'll stick out like sore thumbs!"

It was true, the blobs of red, white, black and yellow would _definitely_ stand out in a White Fang crowd. Everyone in the room glanced among each other, trying to come up with a plan.

"Does…" Everyone looked to Yang. "Does anyone have an extra set of animal ears or tail they used for a Halloween costume or something?"

Sighs rang out as everyone shook their heads.

"Guess I'm going alone," Sun announced. "I promise I'll be care-"

"No you're not," Blake interjected. "You're not going alone."

"Blake…" Weiss' voice almost cracked, knowing what she was about to do.

As Blake reached for her bow, Yang perked an amused eyebrow. "But you're not a fau-"

The aristocrat slowly untangled the black ribbon that blended perfectly with her jet-black hair. Gold eyes scanned their reactions as the ribbon was removed, revealing her black, fluffy cat ears that were perked up and alert. When they were exposed, she flicked them to show them that she had control and to erase any doubt that they were fake.

Yang stared at the pair of tiny black triangles on her partner's head. "-nevermind."

"Blake!" Ruby exclaimed happily. "Your kitty ears are so cute!"

Weiss watched her sister smile.

 _I'm so proud of you, Blake._ Weiss thought. _I didn't think she'd ever tell them this secret. Although I suppose now is as good a time as any._

Blake remembered what her wise older sister had said. Trust was the most important aspect when you're on a team.

The vampire sisters took a leap of faith when they joined Beacon and it wasn't a mistake to come here. As every day went by, the vampires thought that was more true. Instead of being afraid to reveal Blake was partly faunus, she was relieved. Especially when she saw their reactions.

She figured this could be the first step for them to learn about her identity. She felt guilty for hiding so many things about herself, but this made her feel a little better. At least for now.

"Why did you hide it?" Sun asked as his tail waved back and forth, flaunting his faunus traits with pride.

"As long as there's discrimination in this world, I'll continue to hide," Blake regrettably stated. "I want people to see me for who I am. Not what I am."

Ruby gently squeezed her hand. "You know there's plenty of people who accept you for you, right?"

A smile carved on Blake's face, amber eyes met silver. "Of course," she agreed without hesitation. "My team included."

If she didn't feel that way she wouldn't have taken off the bow. By now, she was certain the sisters wouldn't tell a soul she was part cat faunus.

Although she was still paranoid Yang would tell someone about their vampirism, but so far she's proven to keep their vampire secret.

"Us too," Sun pointed to Neptune and had a cocky grin present. "We accept you! I guess this means we're partners," he held out his fist.

"Only for tonight," Neptune said in a teasing tone.

Sun playfully rolled his eyes and kept his fist held out, waiting for Blake to return the gesture. A very slight blush filled his cheeks when he watched the other faunus almost laugh.

Blake fist bumped him. "Yeah."

After that, the blood-faunus looked over at her partner, who had red eyes. She knew Yang got red eyes when she was mad, but she didn't look angry at all. That only meant one thing: Yang was almost crying tears.

"Yang!" Blake yelped. "What's wrong? Why're you crying? Is it because I'm a faun-"

The blonde pulled her in for a rib-crushing hug. "Do you know…"

Blake leaned in, listening intently.

"... how many opportunities I missed to make puns about that!?"

Blake sighed. "Yang, that's a stupid reason to cry."

"Is not!" the blonde wiped her eyes.

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose. "You're incorrigible."

* * *

 **They finally know she's a kitty cat! The vampire secret is still on hold for reasons. Qrow and Winter sure are taking their time ;D**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	28. We're Gonna Need Backup!

After gathering essential equipment for the mission, team RWBY, Sun, and Neptune headed to the nearest White Fang hideout to unveil the reasons behind why grimm were randomly appearing in the city. What made the case odd was that the kingdom's defenses failed to eradicate the beasts. They somehow slipped by and appeared in the city.

It was a very strange case to solve, but after much chatting, they decided they were up for the job. It would be dangerous to pretend like grimm dropping in the city wasn't happening. If things were going to change, they had to face the problem head-on.

The plan was to sneak into one of the White Fang's rallies, which should be easy since they had two faunus on their side. Sun and Blake had a general idea what they'd be doing once they got inside the building, but they had to see how things went first. Sometimes, certain things had to be played by ear.

Right now, it was later in the night. Nothing but the moonlight shimmered in the darkness.

Currently, they were hiding in the tree line watching dozens of faunus walk in and pass the two burly security guards. They realized each person received dark masks. The guards were handing out the false faces, the ones the new White Fang was known for.

The faces of grimm.

As Blake explained earlier, the masks are a symbol. Humanity wanted to make monsters out of them, so they chose to adorn the face of monsters.

They had to blend in, so the blood-faunus opted to wear her intruder outfit to blend in her surroundings more easily. She had a backpack strapped to her back, which contained random tools in case they would come in handy. Like a rope, knife, and an extra earpiece. Just in case.

Meanwhile, Sun went with his usual scruffy appearance, not at all trying to add some stealth. He was as cocky and excited as ever as his monkey tail wagged back and forth.

"Is this the place?" Ruby asked the group.

"It's the right coordinates," Sun informed. "I happened to be near some of their lackeys when they talked about it."

Yang used the gesture for air quotes. "Happened to."

Sun only gave her a knowing grin.

Weiss walked up to each person in the group, giving them their own earpieces. They were very tiny and made of the finest metal Remnant could offer. Each person grabbed the little black dots and stuck them in their ears. This top-notch equipment was just one of the many precautionary measures they took.

"Don't break or lose them," Weiss advised. "These cost a lot of money. Dust loads, in fact."

From that information, everyone's jaws dropped.

Those tiny pieces of metal cost a fortune!

Yang stared at hers in awe and fiddled with it in her palm, testing to see if it was durable and worth the cash. "Like it matters to you," from what she could tell, her white-clad teammate was rich. It wouldn't matter if she lost it.

"It matters to you," the heiress pointed accusingly. "Because I'm not paying for it if you break it."

She paid for all of theirs, which was admittedly generous. She'd be damned if she had to pay to get them fixed if her reckless friends broke them. They could handle a little responsibility.

"Heartless…" Yang muttered under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Guys!" Ruby yelped. "Focus."

Good thing she intervened before things escalated, otherwise a fight would have broken out. It had been a while since they had one of their petty arguments.

The white and yellow pair glared at each other before obeying their leader.

"You guys ready?" Neptune asked the two faunus.

Sun and Blake nodded at each other with smirks.

"These earpieces allow you to listen and talk," Weiss explained. "They are top-quality and are the most updated versions Remnant has to offer," she turned to the pair of faunus. "Don't lose them," she leaned in menacingly and lowered her voice. "Got it?"

Sun and Blake nodded eagerly, trying not to show they were intimidated by the heiress.

"Got it, got it!" Sun exclaimed.

"Good," Weiss replied. "The White Fang won't be able to see them due to how small they are. Are there any questions?"

"No," Blake answered. "I think we're ready."

"Go get 'em," Yang replied encouragingly, trying to show she wasn't still unsettled. "You-you can do it."

Blake knew exactly what was wrong with her partner. She still wasn't used to her identity yet.

"Yang, when we get out of here you can make all the cat puns you want," the blood-faunus almost laughed. "So stop sulking and focus on the present."

"Kitty's got claws," the blonde sent a wink.

Blake took a long, deep breath.

Let the dreaded puns begin.

Weiss flicked Yang on the forehead. It wasn't a hard flick like usual, it was more of a teasing gesture. "Stop and be serious for once in your life."

The blonde rubbed her forehead with a cute pout. "You're mean…"

For once, Weiss ignored the comment and focused on Blake when she spoke.

"I think we're going now."

"Give 'em hell!" Neptune cheered.

Sun punched his two fists together. "We will."

The blood-faunus rolled her eyes when she saw him do that. Despite his monkey tail, he reminded her of an eager puppy.

Together, the two faunus turned around and walked away to get the ball rolling.

It was dead silent as the remaining people left behind the dense tree line watched their friends enter enemy territory.

Luckily, no one was suspicious of the two faunus as they approached the front door. The burly guards stopped the incoming pair and handed them their own masks.

Sun and Blake nodded reassuringly amongst each other and placed the grimm masks over their faces. It was an odd sensation, like they had joined the terrorist organization. Feelings aside, they strolled in the White Fang base with no problems.

Their friends could only watch them disappear and remain quiet. The only thing that helped them see was the harsh moonlight.

There were no problems for the two faunus until there was another pair of security guards blocking the entrance to the rally room.

The blood-faunus nudged Sun before they got too close. "Distract the guards and then find a way to meet up with me," she almost inaudibly murmured.

Sun was glad he had the earpiece to understand more clearly what his temporary partner was saying and nodded. Even with his enhanced hearing, it was hard to discern what she said, but the earpiece provided an edge. Especially to throw off the enemy.

"Blake, you're free to make your move," Ruby's voice chimed in her ear. "There's no one behind you."

Sun walked passed the guards and tapped them on their shoulders, prompting them to turn their backs.

He gingerly rubbed his head. "Hey guys, so is this uh, a whole night thing or a few hours cuz I'm gonna have to pee soon."

Blake could only smirk and watch. Of course Sun would come up with such a stupid excuse.

While the guards babbled on about the miniscule details, the monkey faunus watched Blake use the ribbon on her weapon to disappear in the ceiling rafters.

He was baffled at how skilled in stealth she was. He didn't hear her make a sound, even with his enhanced hearing. She blended in perfectly with the shadows. Even as he tried to squint to locate her figure, he couldn't see anything.

That was when Sun noticed the guards stopped talking. "Thanks for the deets!" and sauntered in the rally while trying to come up with a plan to reunite with Blake.

As Blake slithered her way through the rafters, she murmured. "Sun successfully distracted the guards. I'm in."

"Great to hear, Blakey!" Yang's voice yelled a little too loudly, causing Blake to clutch her sensitive ears.

"Yang!" she could hear Weiss chide. "If you can't lower your voice then give me your earpiece."

"Oops," the blonde said. "Sorry 'bout that."

Blake just shook her head and continued to dance around the rafters, all the while not making the slightest sound. Her shadow mixed in perfectly with the dimly lit area. She was trying to search for a room, possibly one that stood out. Bottom line, any room would do. She would sneak into all of them to find clues to solve the intriguing mystery if she had to.

 _This could take a while,_ Blake told herself.

Judging by the size of the hideout, there would be a lot of rooms and not enough time. They only had about as long as the rally lasted. Then they had to get out of there to avoid raising suspicion and not take any unnecessary risks.

In the corner of her vision, there was a guard, what appeared to be a stag faunus, shutting a door. Blake took this as her chance to crawl over, still wedged in between the ceiling and rafters. The darkness provided perfect cover, allowing her to look like a blob of nothingness as part of the ceiling. She crouched down to receive more cover and she watched the guard walk away while whistling a bored tune.

When the guard was out of sight, the blood-faunus searched each ends of the hallway and was pleased to see it was vacant. No one was in sight. The rally must have been a required event for members of the White Fang and potential new members alike.

 _Everyone is at the rally. This is perfect._

It was _almost_ perfect. She knew there were downsides. Like how the hideout was scoured with cameras. The last thing she wanted to do was use her teleportation ability since some random White Fang member could watch or catch that on tape. She had no idea where the cameras were, but she'd prefer her cover be exposed, rather than her entire vampire race.

She dropped to the floor and eagerly twisted the doorknob, only to find it locked. Instead of being upset it wouldn't open, she was pleased. If a room was locked, that meant something valuable must be inside.

As an expert, Blake knew this might happen and took a bobby pin out of her pocket. She easily picked the lock after shaping the pin at a certain angle. Thanks to her father, she mastered this skill long ago. He said it was 'just in case,' which left Blake confused all these years.

In case what?

In case something like this were to happen.

She breathed out a gentle sigh and murmured a relieved. "Thank you…"

"'Thank you' what?" Yang suddenly asked.

The blood-faunus was so used to the silence she jumped from the voice in her ear. "Dammit, Yang," she muttered.

A soft giggle was her answer.

Ignoring her distraction of a partner, it only took a few seconds for her to hear a 'clink' sound, signaling the door was unlocked.

She slipped inside with ease, noticing it was dark. Through the darkness and her enhanced night vision, she couldn't pinpoint any cameras. Meaning none were in the room. After knowing it was safe, she got to work. The cabinets were her first target and she started to sift through the thousands of files the White Fang had on record.

It had been a few minutes before her cat ear flicked on reflex. Amber eyes pried away from the papers and glanced at the door. There were feet just outside the door.

After quietly shutting the cabinet, she glared at the doorknob and noticed it was indeed wiggling. Somebody wanted to get inside.

Immediately, she used her teleportation ability to disappear. Once again, she found herself wedged in between the rafters and ceiling. It was getting cramped up there. Not to mention dusty. She cringed from the smell, but remained perfectly still and crouched in the rafters, waiting for the person to enter.

The doorknob kept shaking, causing her faunus ears to be perked up and alert.

The lights were already turned off, so that provided her an edge for better cover, even though faunus can see in the dark.

What looked like a rhino faunus guard walked in the room after he almost knocked the door off its hinges. After that, he turned on the lights, searching the room with calculating eyes.

Blake's cat ears twitched when she heard him mutter.

"Why was it unlocked?"

She grit her teeth and kept her stance lowered, hoping he'd leave soon.

* * *

Before the rally started, Sun knew he had to get out of there to join Blake in the search for clues.

Dozens of faunus gathered in the room and were having idle chatter. Nothing official had started yet, so he had time.

With a plan, the monkey faunus strolled up to a door near the front entrance and approached a different pair of guards.

"Hey guys, where's the bathroom?" Sun asked, his voice casual. "I asked the guards over there but they weren't helpful."

"You're not very bright, are ya kid?" one guard asked.

Sun just grinned, hoping his usual charm would overwhelm is apparent stupidity.

"Look, I just want to pee before the rally starts. Now are you gonna point me to the nearest bathroom or what?"

The monkey faunus didn't want to waste any time. Every second in there could be spent helping his temporary partner. During the conversation, he knew all his friends could hear, so Blake knew he was on his way.

"What a lame excuse…" he heard Neptune mutter in his ear.

Sun almost replied, but then remembered Neptune wasn't right by him. He was outside the hideout, so he kept his mouth shut as one of the guards escorted him to the restroom.

The White Fang didn't want him to be alone in the hideout, especially when he was a rookie and could do something suspicious or in his case, possibly idiotic.

* * *

 _Leave already,_ Blake internally pleaded. _Stupid guard. He's been in here for five minutes. I just hope Sun doesn't-_

When the rhino faunus was about to leave, the door opened before he could even touch the doorknob.

 _-show up._

The guard was surprised at the intruder and took a single step back. "What the-"

"Shit," she heard the familiar, yet husky voice curse.

 _Sun, you idiot!_

Sun used his monkey tail to slam the door shut. Then he broke into his combat stance, holding out both of his fists. His tail swung threateningly behind him, ready to pounce.

"What're you doin' in here, boy?" the rhino guard asked, his tone mistrustful.

"About to kick your a-"

He didn't finish his sentence when a black figure leapt from the rafters and kicked the guard in the head. It was a harsh impact, loud enough to hear a crack. The guard dropped from where he stood like a sack of potatoes.

"-ss…" Sun finished, his jaw dropped.

Blake remained poker faced through her grimm mask and got off the unconscious body.

"You're really good at this," Sun pointed out.

"No," Blake shook her head. "You're just really bad. And you thought you could do this alone?"

The two faunus could hear Yang's snickers on the other side. They had to admit, their friends were being quiet for this, other than the blonde. It was quite impressive. If there were too many sideline conversations, they'd get distracted, so they appreciated their friends' diligence.

"Keep watch while I search the files," Blake suggested, already heading over to the cabinets.

Sun sulked over to the door and cracked it open to watch for any threats. He muttered things like, "Why can't I be as badass as her?" or, "I'm not _that_ bad… she's just too good..."

After keeping watch for several minutes, Sun was starting to get bored.

"Blaaaaaaake," he whined. "Hurry up."

The aristocrat bit her lip from retorting and continued to search for any suspicious files. Talking would be a waste of time, so she sifted through the papers faster. Her eyes darted frantically, scanning each page almost word-for-word. Now, she appreciated all those years of reading. The average person could never make her eyes fly as fast as hers and with accuracy to boot.

A few minutes later, she found what she was looking for. Her finger stopped turning the pages and she let out a tiny gasp. The file didn't directly link why the grimm randomly appeared in the city, but it was a clue.

A lead.

She tore the paper out of the cabinet and held it in the air victoriously. "Found something."

Everyone on the other line gasped.

"Are you guys coming back now?" Ruby asked the two faunus.

"Not yet," Blake said. "I want to try one more room. There could be another file with solid evidence. Unlike this one."

"If you say so," Sun replied.

From what he could tell, she knew exactly what she was doing. He wasn't about to argue with the expert.

"Be careful," Ruby chimed in their ears.

"Will do," Blake almost smiled and got to work.

She stuffed the crucial file in her backpack and the two faunus silently headed down the hall. Thankfully, no guards were present and it didn't take long to find another locked door.

The blood-faunus repeated the process and took out a bobby pin. After picking the locked door, the two stepped inside.

" _Really_ good at this…" Sun muttered again. "If you weren't here I'd just kick it down."

Blake ignored the comment as scanned the new room. To their surprise, the room was filled with atlesian robots. Both old and new models scattered the area, along with some Schnee Dust crates that had the snowflake emblem plastered on each. Dozens, no hundreds of these things overwhelmed the massive area.

It was dead quiet as they took in their surroundings.

"Holy shit!" Sun exclaimed, his shout echoed in the huge space.

On instinct, Blake backed up a few steps, her eyes wide and disbelieving.

Their friends spoke in their ears and asked what was wrong. Asked them what would make them react this way. The temporary partners could only stare at the technology and sparkling snowflakes with their jaws dropped.

"Weiss…" Blake mumbled.

The heiress' voice sounded in her ear and was a little imploring. "Yes?"

"Remind me to tell Winter about this."

"What did you find?"

"There's tons of-"

The temporary partners were almost thrown off their feet from the sudden shuddering. The ground shook like an earthquake and Sun had to use his tail to keep Blake upright to stop her from falling.

"What's going on?!" Sun yelped.

Before the two knew it, an atlesian robot dropped from the ceiling and thudded on the ground hardly, directly in front of them. It was massive and unsettling when its weapons pointed at the pair. They were like deer in headlights. It was all so sudden. From what they could discern, the atlesian was piloted by a guy with orange hair and a tacky hat.

"Why hello there, you snoopers!" the interested voice echoed through the room.

Not giving them time to react, the robot's arm took a powerful swing at the two exposed faunus.

Just barely, Sun dove into Blake in time to roll out of the way. Together, they helped each other up and bolted in the opposite direction. The temporary partners kept each other sprinting with one another's support.

Their eyes locked on one target at the end of the hall. It was embedded in the wall, transparent and made of glass.

With the robot hot on their tail, the two plowed through the window and shattered it to pieces.

Before they could land, Sun shouted.

"We're gonna need backup!"

* * *

 **Is that who you think it is? So many character appearances!**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	29. Be Ready

"We're gonna need backup!"

When Blake and Sun thumped on the concrete that was scoured in glass shards, they bolted where their friends were located. If anyone could help them fight an overpowered robot, it was their teammates.

It was dark outside, which wasn't a problem since the temporary partners had night vision. They used that as an advantage as they bolted into the forest.

Wanting to help her friends, Yang exclaimed. "On it!"she was on the other side of the earpiece.

That prompted the temporary partners to dart faster. Being reassured they weren't alone compelled them to give it their all.

Immediately, Yang hopped on her motorcycle she brought along just in case. Good thing she did, too, because now it came in handy.

After she hastily strapped on her helmet, she whipped her head around to meet her friends' gazes.

"Anyone coming?"

Not needing permission, Neptune joined her on the vehicle and practically leapt on the back seat. He lowered his goggles and held up his weapon, his other hand around her waist.

"They're our partners, let's go!"

Yang nodded and floored it, leaving their friends in the dust. If her partner was in trouble, she wasn't going to just sit there.

"They left us," Weiss crossed her arms, sounding a bit dejected. "What now?"

"We wait," Ruby answered firmly. "The fight will come to us."

"I suppose you're right," the heiress agreed.

The leader knelt on the ground and used a stick to draw on the mud. "I have a plan."

Weiss took a knee to join her friend and listened intently.

"You always do."

* * *

It didn't take long for Neptune and Yang to find the giant atlesian robot chasing their partners. It was a hunk of metal beating the ground into submission and rocked Remnant with each step. It was a little hard to miss.

Sun glided through the air and dodged every swing thrown at him with the help of his tail. Blake on the other hand, did countless flips and even tried to shatter the glass the pilot was shielded behind with multiple gunshots. Every bullet failed, and each one sent her into a frown and an even quicker sprint.

Sun and Blake were evenly matched when it came to speed, meaning they could properly help each other if the other tripped or fell.

In the distance, the two sprinting faunus caught a yellow and blue blob. It didn't take long for their partners to rapidly approach them when Yang slammed the gas pedal even harder.

Relief washed over them in waves. Her fierce motorcycle was a force to be reckoned with.

Yang drove her beloved vehicle, Bumblebee, up to Blake and yelled. "Get on!"

The blood-faunus glanced at the vehicle and saw Neptune give her a grin. Besides not wanting to hop next to him, there was clearly no room for her. It was a two-person vehicle.

"That doesn't look safe!" Blake yelped.

Yang pointed to the robot hot on their tail. "Neither does that!"

Knowing her saving grace was right, Blake swallowed her pride and jumped on the side of the motorcycle, gripping Yang for leverage. She was going even more swift than she was before and held on for dear life.

"That's cheating!" they could hear the pilot yelp.

Bumblebee tilted to the side from Blake's extra weight, but Yang evened it out before they could tip over. When it was decently safe, a smile formed on the blonde's lips. Now that Blake was by her side, she felt invincible and wouldn't let any harm come to her.

A moment later, Yang circled around the robot to get to the other side. She rode alongside Sun, who was struggling to shoot the robot that was harder than steel. He didn't need to be told to hop on the opposite side of Blake, where his partner was.

Now the motorcycle was carrying four people. Normally, it's maximum capacity was two, but the blonde was an expert when it came to Bumblebee. It was a little difficult to steer, but she hit the gas nonetheless and trusted her sister had a plan in mind.

Bumblebee rocked back and forth constantly, and Yang grinned when her friends let out shrieks. It seemed like the blonde wasn't in control, but she had a good grip on the vehicle and did that to throw off the enemy. That didn't seem to work when the pilot wasn't caught off guard by her random maneuvers.

They were rapidly approaching where they left their teammates, but they weren't in sight. The robot's hard legs shook the ground furiously with each step, prompting Yang to give the gas pedal another boost while her friends kept shooting the target, and at the same time held on by a thread.

"I am getting sick of this nonsense!" the pilot yelled.

The pilot was constantly taking hits from the three passengers. It had been like that for several minutes and he was growing more and more irritated. They were going just fast enough so the robot couldn't land a hit, but slow enough for them to counter.

Seeing this wasn't getting anywhere, the blonde decided to sharply steer the vehicle around the dense trees before the enemy could plan a different strategy. The trees and vegetation is where she last saw her sister, so she placed a bet that's where she was waiting. She took a hard left, almost causing her three friends to fly off Bumblebee.

"Gah!" Blake, Neptune, and Sun yelped in unison.

"Eheh, sorry guys!" Yang shouted. "Hang on!"

Taking her word, the three tightened their iron grips. Just after she felt Blake's hold constrict harder, Yang floored it and headed to where she bet her sister was. She'd logged hundreds of hours with Bumblebee and took a gamble that the robot would have a hard time maneuvering around the dense forestation.

Her sister might also be somewhere in the vegetation.

Two birds, one stone.

The expert driver was also confident in her ability to drive, so she didn't think much about jetting over a new landscape.

Instead of driving on flat land, Bumblebee constantly dodged dozens of trees and bushes. The passengers abandoned the idea of throwing blows at the massive robot. Now with the constant rocking and swaying, it was almost impossible to land a proper hit.

Suddenly, a fiery beam shot out of the bushes and directly hit the atlesian. Not only did it scorch the forest, it almost burnt the four on the motorcycle as it whizzed by the stunned riders. The harsh flames engulfed the pilot and the surrounding area, causing it to catch on fire.

The pilot halted his assault and stopped in his tracks, trying to regain his sense of surroundings when smoke obscured his vision. Not giving him a chance to recover, another beam shot out of the same pair of bushes. It was more calm, yet frigid and sent chills up their spines. The white and blue beam pierced the air and scattered around the area, creating a dense fog.

Seeing his chance, Neptune hoisted his sharp trident in the crevice of the robot. It sent an electrical current into the machine, leaving it to jolt and malfunction, ultimately causing it to become paralyzed.

"And I just got this thing upgraded," the pilot whined.

After the attack, Yang sped to the direction of the bushes, knowing that's where her remaining team riders hopped off Bumblebee, fighting as a team would be the best course of action, rather than riding the motorcycle. They reunited with Ruby and Weiss with huge smiles. Each pair of sisters almost hugged when they had their reunion, but remembered the task at hand.

"He won't be able to see with the fog," Ruby informed. "Good job, Weiss."

Weiss blew out the slight smoke on her rapier. "It was simple enough."

The six looked over to see the robot was struggling to move. The robot's legs kept giving out under its weight. The shock Neptune delivered earlier did a number on it.

All that was left was the real enemy.

The pilot.

Ruby smiled and looked to Weiss. "You know what to do."

"Yang!" from the call, Yang turned and focused on what the heiress was doing. There was a wall of ice that encircled the downed robot. "Now!"

Yang gave a nod and used Ember Celica to leap onto the wall of ice, skidding across the smooth solid. The recoil provided the perfect jumpstart.

Thanks to team combat practice, Blake knew exactly what to do. She was there in a heartbeat and ran alongside her, throwing her the pistol form of Gambol Shroud for her partner to catch the other end. Once the blonde caught the handle, the connecting ribbon allowed Blake to throw Yang as hard as she could. The blood-faunus let out a grunt of effort as she swung her partner forward.

To provide more momentum, Ruby was there as a stepping stone so Blake could use her as leverage.

The leader used her sniper to shoot off the ground, giving Blake an extra boost.

The two soared like menacing eagles toward the robot that was about to firmly stand. However, with one final hurl, Blake launched Yang forward.

The blonde couldn't help but give a war cry and held her right fist back, a smirk present. Her final lethal cruncher annihilated the robot. It bursted into hundreds of tiny metal parts, some of them even smaller than their ear pieces.

Everyone stared at the aftermath and it was dead silent. Chunks of metal flew everywhere and scattered on the grass.

Now they definitely wouldn't want to get Yang angry.

She destroyed that robot to smithereens!

The sounds of metal crunching rang out, and that's when the pilot to stumbled out.

"Such troublesome kids," he tried to dust himself off.

Like lightning, Yang was in front of him in seconds. She grabbed him by the collar, lifting him off the ground like the fully-grown man weighed nothing. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" her eyes burned red and were narrowed in anger.

The man wasn't intimidated in the slightest and squinted his eyes as if she was stupid. "That's _my_ line, blondie."

"Yang," Ruby called. "Ease up a bit. We need to ask him some questions."

With hesitance, Yang threw the man on the ground, which elicited a grunt from him. She wanted nothing more than to pummel him for endangering her teammates, but right now she knew her sister was right.

"Tell us," Neptune started. "Why're grimm appearing in the city?"

"Who said grimm are appearing in the city?" the man rubbed his orange hair and said in a mocking tone. He glanced at the remaining people. "Is he stupid or something?"

"Tell us!" Yang shouted harshly.

From the yell, the man flinched, but didn't lose his characteristic sarcasm.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

The six students hovered around the downed man, with Yang getting more pissed by the second. It was obvious they didn't buy his reply. But they might not get anywhere with this method of questioning.

Switching tactics, Blake pulled out the file she found earlier. "If you don't know about that," she shoved the paper in his face. "Then who's Cinder?"

"Cinder?" the man was amused at the name. He seemed to recall the woman from his tone. "All I know is that she ditched the White Fang several years ago," he sighed in annoyance. "And she took the best henchmen while she was at it. The arrogant, treacherous woman…"

"Is that all you know?" Weiss asked in a threatening tone. She had a feeling there was more than he was letting on.

The man looked up to see Yang pounding her fists together as an intimidation tactic.

"That's all I know about her in particular, ice queen," he slyly remarked.

"Hey!"

The man mocked his surrender and held his hands up.

"Can I go now?"

"Hah!" Yang scoffed. "You're involved with the White Fang. We're callin' the cops."

Ruby already dialed the number and was on her scroll, informing the police about what happened.

The leader covered the phone to speak and looked at the pilot. "What's your name?" she asked innocently.

"Like I'd tell some snot nosed-"

He was cut off when a rapier and powerful fist were dangerously close to his neck.

"Roman."

"Thanks Roman!" Ruby thanked and went back to talking with the cops.

When she hung up the scroll, she smiled. "You're gonna be behind bars for a long time."

"Damn you, red."

* * *

Team RWBY was relaxing in their room the day after they put Roman in jail. As promised, the vampire sisters kept Winter updated, prompting the eldest to tell their parents about the accomplishment. The eldest didn't tell her younger siblings that, so when Weiss got a phone call that afternoon, they were surprised.

Even though their teammates were present, the vampire sisters figured answering the video call couldn't hurt. The vampire sisters sat in the middle of the floor and put on their usual smiles for who was calling.

"Weiss! Blake!" their mother exclaimed. "Your father and I heard the news!"

Mr. Schnee appeared on the screen. They looked the same as the day they left for Beacon. Their mother adorned white bobbed hair, something very similar to Weiss' own when she was younger. She was dressed to perfection as usual, while their father looked like he just rolled out of bed.

"We're very proud," Mr. Schnee said solemnly.

"You heard about that?" Blake asked.

Their mother nodded. "Yes, we are very impressed you managed to put a criminal in jail."

Ruby listened to the call and was wondering what their parents looked like. Curiosity got the best of her, so she took a seat next to Blake to feed her interest.

"They're your parents?! Wow…" Ruby was impressed at how similar they compared to Weiss.

The leader was shocked at how good-looking the couple was together. Each parent emitted a pleasant aura that was nice and welcoming. They looked young, too. The mom had perfect bobbed white hair, while the dad's was white, although scraggly and his face was clean-shaven.

The heiress pointed to Ruby. "That's our dunce of a leader, Ruby."

Ruby politely waved and grinned. "Hiya! It's actually _fearless_ leader."

"Aw!" the mother cooed. "Blake, Weiss, you didn't tell me how cute she is!"

"Oh psh, nah," Ruby waved off, although she had a serious blush forming. "Eheheheheh, stahp it."

Despite her words, Ruby accepted the compliment wholeheartedly, obviously flustered and pleased. Mrs. Schnee seemed like a nice woman when she just grinned widely.

"Of course she's adorable!" Yang chimed in and took a seat next to Weiss. "She's my little sister," she said proudly.

The male pureblood stared at the newcomer, who had a mane like a lion.

"You must be Yang," he observed.

"Yep, hi mama and papa Schnee! I'm Yang," she properly introduced. "Yang Xiao Long. You have no idea Xiao Long I've wanted to meet you."

"That's the brute," Weiss deadpanned, leaving Yang to pout.

"How are things?" Blake asked. "Your vacation?"

"It's great!" the mother hugged her husband's arm. "He's laid back for once. It's nice to see him wind down a bit. You know how much of a hard worker he is."

Weiss smiled, something that caught Yang off guard. "You two deserve some time off."

The blonde couldn't help but stare at the multiple expressions Weiss was making during the video call. Her family must mean the world to her. Seeing her teammate smile so much was making Yang feel warm...

"... Ruby was the one who thought of the attack combinations," Blake praised. "It was really her brain that took the robot down."

The leader got an intense blush. "T-thanks Blake."

The father chuckled. "I'm glad to see you working as a team."

"Yes," the heiress nodded, her tone serious. "Everything is going better than we'd hoped."

By that subtle comment, the parents knew that she meant they were successful in hiding the fact that they're vampires. Except Yang, who was still in the dark on the matter.

"Good," the mother replied. "Call us if you need anything."

"Will do," Blake said. "Love you."

"Love you," Weiss stated.

"We love you too," the parents replied in unison.

"Call us if you need anything," the mom stated endearingly.

Weiss grinned. "Ditto," and pressed 'end' on the call.

"Holy crap," Yang chimed. "Weiss, you look exactly like them."

Ruby shuddered. "It's kinda creepy."

"Genes tend to do that," Weiss pointed out.

Ruby glanced to Blake. She was hesitant to ask the question, but persevered. "Are you adopted, too?"

There was absolutely no resemblance she could find with her parents. They were complete opposites as far as she could tell and she was curious. The white hair trait contrasted with Blake's jet-black hair. To top it off, Blake had amber eyes, compared to her family's signature blue ones.

"'Too?'" the blood-faunus quoted. "You're adopted as well?"

"Yeah," Ruby chirped. "So I know what it's like."

"Ya learn somethin' new everyday huh, kitten?" Yang beamed.

Blake faintly smiled, liking the fact that Ruby could understand what being adopted felt like.

"I guess."

* * *

"I was suspicious of them up until now..."

A girl stood next to the figure, who emitted an aura of power. She glanced up at her superior with calculating, yet imploring eyes. "Why didn't you do anything about it?" the girl's tone wasn't judgmental and was more out of curiosity.

"I have been," the woman seethed. She was not at all happy from her subordinate's comment. Even if she didn't mean to insult her. "I've been working from a distance."

"R-right, sorry Cinder," the girl with green hair apologized, not liking the idea of upsetting the woman.

"Don't call me that! You have no right to call me by my name."

The girl flinched from the raised voice. It seems she couldn't say anything properly to her superior without upsetting her today. "Sorry, my lady," immediately, she shut her mouth to prevent herself from saying anything else to anger the woman.

"This confirms it…" Cinder thought out loud. "Emerald, get Mercury. We're initiating the plan."

"If I may ask, what exactly is the plan, my lady?" Emerald asked her superior.

"You and Mercury will be sent in soon. Be ready."

* * *

 **Oho! *super smash bros music* new challengers!**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	30. New Students

During combat class, team RWBY was listening to a lecture from Goodwitch. Student's pens flew across some pages as she guided the class through a long powerpoint. It was like this was just another typical class until the final slide ended.

When Glynda was done explaining the advantages of dust in certain weapons, she announced there would be a practice round.

A sparring match.

This was still combat class after all, even though it contained a few lectures here and there.

"The students who will participate in this friendly spar will be…"

Glynda glanced up at the two giant monitors that were side-by side. An unsettling shuffling noise reverberated throughout the room. It was obvious some students, like Nora, who couldn't stop jumping up and down in her seat, wanted a chance to improve their combat skills.

Others preferred to just sit and watch the show. Sometimes, watching was more important than participating in these matches. Students can gain intel from just spectating their classmate's strategies. While they sat and watched, it allowed them to contemplate which course of action would be best by reading their movements without the danger of being in the match itself.

When the monitors stopped shuffling, a ping rang out. Two images of students were displayed on screen. The people who didn't want to spar gave sighs of relief, while some were of disappointment.

"... Weiss Schnee and Mercury Black."

Knowing it would be her turn eventually, Weiss stood and unsheathed her rapier. Her signature poker face was present as her team shouted encouragement.

"You got this, princess!" Yang cheered.

"Kick some butt!" Ruby encouraged.

Blake only sat there and glanced at her sister. "You got this."

The heiress only smirked and gave her team a firm nod. It was silent besides her team's yelling. They were a rowdy bunch. Normally, opponents would receive encouragement from their respective teams, so Goodwitch allowed it since it showed good sportsmanship. It was just odd that Mercury didn't receive a single uplifting cheer.

Once Weiss met her opponent in the middle of the arena, she angled her rapier down until the professor would call the match.

From the looks of it, Mercury didn't have a weapon. Weiss made a mental note to allow him to strike first to analyze his fighting style. She also needed to be cautious since she'd never seen him fight before.

Heck, she'd never seen him in her life!

From the stands, the audience could only watch when the opponents locked eyes in an intense stare down.

Yang nudged Blake. "I've never seen him before."

Blake nodded. "Yeah, and he was sitting with that green-haired girl. I've never seen her before either."

The two were an odd duo. The gray-haired boy and green-haired girl certainly stuck out in the crowd. From the looks of it, the green-haired girl was bored out of her mind, not at all interested in her apparent friend's upcoming match. She even yawned and rolled her eyes when the boy spared her a glance.

"New students?" Ruby suggested. "It's possible."

"It's a little late to transfer, don't you think, Rubes?" Yang asked her sister.

Ruby shrugged. "I don't know. I know some people who transferred halfway through the year."

"I guess it's never too late," Yang mumbled as she watched the two encircle each other.

Yang leaned forward in her seat to watch the show. She'd seen her teammate in action before, but never in a classroom setting against a mysterious opponent. She was going to take this chance to at least try to understand how Weiss operates during battle. She was impressed by her skills so far, so now was her chance to examine them properly.

Goodwitch sensed their anticipation and decided to call the match with the wave of her riding crop.

"Begin!"

Like a rocket, Mercury launched himself at his opponent, not giving her a chance to counter. Weiss successfully blocked a kick from Mercury with her rapier and jumped back a few feet to gain some distance.

From that hit alone, there was an immense impact. So hard it was like his legs were made of steel. Undoubtedly, that would be how her opponent would fight. His legs were his weapons. Weiss guessed he'd put countless hours into training those limbs alone.

Now that she gained some distance, she devised a proper plan now that she knew how he'd fight.

To test a long-range tactic, she shot a few fire bolts with her rapier by using her bountiful supply of dust. It was a decent strategy, but Mercury simply knocked the fire balls away with his foot, causing mini smoke clouds to form. Despite the fire being at least two-hundred degrees, the boy didn't even flinch when the spheres of light contacted his legs.

Weiss expected the fire to at least graze the skin under his clothing, but it was like he wasn't even touched. No marks were present and he sent her a mischievous smirk though the light smoke.

Getting fed up, the heiress used her glyphs to dance around him. She landed several strikes, with a new smirk forming. Her opponent couldn't do much as he absorbed the hits and the smoke still obscured his vision. Weiss had him right where she wanted him.

In a trap.

She landed multiple slashes in rapid succession, earning his aura meter to hit the yellow area. The monitor displayed that she was in the lead.

"Goooooo Weissy!" she could hear Ruby yell.

Strangely enough, the yell compelled her to move even faster. The heiress didn't let up and utilized her glyphs to strike him again and again, hit after hit.

Little did she know, Mercury internally composed himself and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes to sense for her sharp sound. A split second later, he used his leg to trip the heiress in mid-air without so much as looking. The result was a harsh impact in her gut. As a result, she let out a gasp and tumbled to the marble floor. He was no longer trapped and simply stared at the downed girl in victory.

 _He read my movements,_ Weiss concluded. _I need to be less predictable in combat. It's just like how that damned pureblood figured me out._

"You got this, princess!" Yang shouted.

From that, the heiress shook off the initial shock to compose herself. It would be strange to her to use a random tactic since she favored strategy, but she was willing to give it a try.

Now that she was grounded, Mercury flipped away for a brief second. Not soon after, he soared directly at her from the initial jump. Luckily for Weiss, she had enough time to spring up and land firmly on her feet.

In melee combat, Mercury found she was at a huge disadvantage when it came to strength. Weiss could parry, dodge, and deflect his punches and kicks, but couldn't counter very easily, although she tried several times, she couldn't land a solid hit.

Another smirk formed on his lips, causing Weiss to narrow those blue eyes. He found her weakness, and she wasn't about to let him take advantage of it.

Weiss knew she couldn't beat his powerful legs up close, so she jumped back a few feet and devised a new, hopefully erratic plan he wouldn't be able to figure out. After spinning the dust chambers, she sent a gust of tinted wind directly at him.

The sound whirled through the classroom, causing the spectators to lean in and watch closely. Whenever an uncommon dust was brought into the fight, it always grabbed people's attention.

The heiress stood firm, her rapier pointed at Mercury as the mini whirlwind encircled him.

With a smirk, Mercury started twirling his feet, summoning solid white balls of light. He looked like he didn't have a care in the world as he broke out into intense dance moves. Soon enough, the wind Weiss sent to him aided his new attack.

What the hell was happening?!

Weiss could only watch as what were once little balls of light and a small gust turned into a tornado that towered to the ceiling. The wind spun mercilessly, causing everyone in the room to hold onto their belongings, or they'd forcefully fly away.

Mercury was in the center of the vortex as calm as ever, his arms crossed. He stood there and stared at his shocked opponent, pleased with her expression. More like everyone's expressions. His classmate's jaws dropped, their eyes unable to pry away from the menacing man-made storm.

"Holy shit!" someone shouted.

Probably Yang. It was hard to tell who it was when the harsh breeze assaulted the room and everyone in it.

"What the..." the heiress had never seen anything like… like _this!_

She backed away slowly in utter astonishment. Although she was surprised, her weapon remained poised.

The dreadful tornado took up most of the arena. It was wild, yet composed. Which was impressive, leading the vampire to believe her opponent had full control of the storm.

After Mercury lightly kicked his foot, the fierce whirlwind rapidly approached her. There was no escape, so she thrusted her rapier into the ground and held on for dear life. That didn't work as the harsh winds proved to be too strong. She was swept inside the storm of wind within a matter of seconds, but kept a grip on her rapier.

Using dust might be able to get her out of that mess, but she ended up dropping her rapier, the winds were too powerful.

The only thing she could hear were the sounds of the howling wind. She felt the full impact of Mercury's attack and fury. Her body was spinning so quickly it was hard to get a breath of air. She may have lost her rapier and she was in a desperate situation, but that didn't stop her mind from pondering alternative ways to escape.

Escaping the tornado would be easy if she used zehn like before against Cardin, but she remembered this was a practice fight and immediately dismissed the idea. There was no way she would use her vampiric ability in front of dozens of humans, even if her life was threatened.

She looked like a ragdoll, spinning and being hurled around mercilessly in the wind. Her world was rocking and swaying. It was hard to even keep her eyes open when everything blended into a blurry image. Darkness started to tug the corners of her vision, and that's when she realized she failed to properly breathe since being sucked in.

She tried to move her hand to cover her nose and mouth to get some air, but she simply couldn't. Her body refused to cooperate when this amount of pressure from the violent winds slammed against her repeatedly. It was like several bricks rammed into her all at once, except constantly.

She was _so_ dizzy she felt like she would vomit. For a moment, she forgot what was happening and where she was.

The audience could only watch as the heiress desperately struggled to get a breath of air.

"That's enough!" Yang stood in a fury and slammed her hands on the desk.

From the outburst, Goodwitch kept a firm eye on the white-clad girl still being thrown around in the tornado. Quickly, the girl went limp and that's when the professor realized her aura depleted to the red area.

"Ms. Schnee's aura is in the red!" Glynda announced. "The winner is Mr. Black."

Knowing the match was over, Mercury smirked and stopped kicking. This caused the air to go still and immediately stopped spinning. The violent winds ceased and settled calmly, causing Weiss to fall helplessly in mid-air.

Gasps sounded from the audience. At this rate, the students realized Weiss would crash onto the harsh floor, especially since Mercury didn't stick around to help. Glynda was about to wave her riding crop to catch the falling girl, but her three teammate's actions caused her to lower the weapon.

On instinct, her remaining team literally jumped out of their seats. Since they were in the front row, it was easy to hop over the invisible, magnetic shield and land in the arena. The three dove for the falling girl, but Ruby beat the other two because of her semblance.

Ruby barely made it on time to catch her partner. The impact caused Ruby to stumble a bit and she went down to her knees to adjust herself. Carefully, Ruby held Weiss close and tucked her protectively into her chest.

Worriedly, the leader blocked the harsh arena lights and leaned over her partner. The remaining pair surrounded Ruby and Weiss, their eyes focused on the downed girl's resting face.

"Weiss, Weiss, are you okay?!" Ruby called out. "Can you hear me?"

It didn't take long for the heiress to open her eyes. They furrowed a few times before she blinked away the haze. Her senses were fuzzy at first, but her concerned leader helped snap her out of her stupor.

"R-Ruby…"

Ruby smiled and wrapped the heiress in a loose hug. "I'm so glad you're okay."

"Not now, you dunce," she tried to scold. "We're in front of the class."

"There's the princess I know," Yang chimed and held out her hand.

With a smile, Weiss grabbed her teammate's hand. Carefully, the sisters helped steady her to stand firmly on the floor. Meanwhile, Blake stayed behind her to make sure her sister wouldn't fall, but she didn't seem wobbly.

"I'm okay," Weiss directed the statement to her teammates when she realized concern overwhelmed them. "Let's make room for the next match. We can't have professor Goodwitch scold us."

Hearing her comment, Glynda faintly smiled, glad her student was okay.

"Alright," Yang agreed.

The team walked back to their seats, making sure to take it slow, even though their teammate seemed fine. After Blake retrieved Myrtenaster, she followed and joined them in the stands.

Now that everyone was seated, Goodwitch glanced at Mercury, who sat next to the green-haired girl.

"That was an exceptional performance, Mr. Black," Glynda praised and she stared at Weiss. "Ms. Schnee, I suggest switching to a more defensive tactic when your aura level drops too low. Although in your case, I can see why that might have been a difficult thing to do."

"Understood," the heiress replied.

She knew the mistakes she'd made. There were countless faults on her end, causing her to feel incompetent. Already, she started to think of other methods to beat the student, should they spar again.

It was an interesting match to say the least. It certainly didn't last long, but now she knew how her opponent fought. He was cunning and strong. A very worthy adversary.

Team RWBY sat together again and waited for the next match to be announced. Slyly, Blake slid a blacked-out bottle to her sister. The cap was screwed on tightly, preventing it from spilling. Weiss inspected the cup with curious eyes, wondering if the substance was what she thought it was.

"It's real," the blood-faunus murmured, confirming Weiss' thoughts.

Blake knew blood would help replenish her sister's energy, so she had it ready. In fact, she always brought blood to this class in case something like this were to happen. Normally, Weiss acted like she was fine, but even after knowing her for several years, Blake never knew when she was faking or not. She wanted her to drink a dose of the blood. She'd lost a lot of aura and that meant Weiss must be feeling a slight vampiric urge, even though she was an expert at hiding it.

The heiress was hesitant, something Blake noticed.

"It's okay," Blake whispered. "I already had some. I made a run to the infirmary to get more, so there's plenty. Drink it."

Weiss didn't want to be greedy. Since Blake was content, she allowed herself to take the drink. The heiress happily grabbed the bottle and took her time sipping the liquid, making sure not a single drop of blood stained her face.

Before she could finish sipping the drink carefully, the intercom ping sound rang out.

"Teams RWBY and JNPR report to my office immediately."

Glynda was about to initiate the next match pair up, but Ozpin's voice cut her off.

"Go, it must be important."

The teams didn't need to be told twice and left class, wondering what was going on. Before team RWBY left, Weiss made sure to swipe the bottle filled with blood. It wouldn't be responsible if she just left it there for anyone to taste.

It was nice to leave class early, but they didn't know what was happening.

Were they in trouble?

Because they thought this, the two teams walked slowly to the headmaster's office as they roamed the halls.

"What do you think he wants?" Jaune asked everyone. "Are we in trouble?"

"We haven't done anything wrong," Blake stated. "It might be a mission."

"Ohhhh," Ruby drawled. "A mission? Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!" she was bouncing up and down in excitement from the mere thought. "Yang! We finally get to go on one of those cool missions!"

"Don't get your hopes up," Yang ruffled her sister's short, dark hair.

"So this means we're not in trouble?" Nora asked. "No one suspected me?"

"Suspected you of what?" the blonde asked suspiciously.

"Nothing!" Nora waved her hands frantically.

Everyone dismissed the comment, thinking that Nora was just being well… Nora. The teams were in front of the headmaster's doors within seconds. The large double doors were slightly intimidating, but that didn't stop them from walking in. The large group entered the room, only to be greeted with silence.

"Um… is anyone there?" Ruby called out. "We were sent here, so I promise we're not here without permission or anything!"

Suddenly, the oddly shaped chair spun around. The headmaster was revealed to be sitting in it the whole time as his hard stare met their gazes.

"For a sec I thought you'd be stroking a cat," Yang joked. "You know, like in those weird action movies before they get a missio-"

Weiss quickly jabbed her side, eliciting a soft yelp.

"I-I mean hi, headmaster!" Yang greeted. "You needed to speak with us?"

After Ozpin set his coffee mug on the table, he spoke.

"I have an important task for your teams. Unfortunately, this mission requires more than the usual number of hunters and huntresses, which is why I need two teams. You are freshmen, and gaining experience is critical in this path of life."

"If you do not mind me asking, what does this mission entail?" Pyrrha questioned.

"Do not worry, miss Nikos, the mission is quite simple," Ozpin replied. His hands rested under his chin and he gave his students his full attention. "You will travel through Mountain Glenn. After that, you will follow the path and go through the forest. In the outskirts of the woodland, you will find a village located directly behind the mountains."

When he finished his sentence, his hardened gaze went to the bottle Weiss was holding for a moment. When one of his students asked a question, he directed his attention to her.

"What is the village called?" Blake asked.

"Acacia," the headmaster answered. "Many citizens have been killed because of the increasing amount of grimm. Thus, the village population is dwindling. Their security needs to be tightened, which is where you come in. You will be there for a few days to protect the citizens until they can find a permanent hunter to remain there."

"That's horrible…" Jaune couldn't help but mutter.

"Indeed," Ozpin agreed. "Your team must eradicate nearby grimm. Per reports, there is an overwhelming amount of beowolf dens. Locate and remove them."

Each member nodded in understanding.

"An airship will be here in approximately half an hour. Pack essential items you may need and be ready to leave."

"Understood," Weiss spoke for them.

After Ozpin gave them a nod, the students knew it was okay to leave.

"You are dismissed."

The two teams were out of the room as quickly as they came. The large group roamed the halls with excitement breaching their minds. It was apparent in some, but mostly in Ruby. She was almost bouncing off the walls.

Yang was distracted while she tried to calm her sister down. Using this as an opportunity, Blake whispered in her sister's ear.

"We can't forget the blood tablets."

"Right."

* * *

In a different room in Beacon academy, Mercury was doing push-ups out of boredom. After his fiftieth one, he dropped to the ground and laid on his back. He stared at the ceiling as he spoke.

"She's weak for a pureblood."

Cinder sat on one of the beds her room provided. She stopped sewing her newest piece of clothing and placed it in her lap. Her golden eyes narrowed in thought.

"She's the youngest of the pureblood family, meaning she should be the weakest," it was a good inference, one that spoke to her. "However…" her tone turned to more thoughtful as she pondered the vampire's situation. "She should be powerful because of her pureblood genes."

"Maybe it's an act," Emerald wasn't allowed on the bed next to her superior, so she sat on the ground next to the bored Mercury. "It's possible we got the wrong information."

"No," Cinder dismissed. "The evidence is there," she was sure of it.

"My lady," Mercury began. "I knocked her unconscious. Even when her life was in danger, she didn't use zehn. If she is a pureblood, or even a vampire, she's good at hiding it."

"She refuses to use zehn during a fight, huh?" Cinder held up the needle and stared at it with malice. "She's a smart one. We'll have to force it out of her."

* * *

 **DAT VOLUME 4 FINALE THO!**

 **Aw, Cinder you evil, evil thing! What're you planning?**

 **Lolol Yang is definitely my favorite character to write.**

 **The village is named after my favorite frat- Acacia. For once a name has no meaning other than I wanted to call it that. Fun fact, it's also a genus of shrubs. They're white and yellow clusters, so that coincidentally goes with the color name theme of RWBY.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	31. Opening Up

A few hours earlier, teams RWBY and JNPR got off the airship. They trekked through a dense forest after arriving in Mountain Glenn. Currently, they are trudging through another forest to reach their destination.

A village called Acacia.

The teams remembered Ozpin warned them about the climate being cold, so each person had an extra article of clothing around their backs.

They kept smacking some of the dense shrubbery with their weapons, Nora taking the greatest pleasure in knocking down some smaller trees.

Ren put a hand on her shoulder, causing her to lower Magnhild. "Don't go overboard," he advised. "Trees are living things, too."

Nora pouted and strapped the hammer to her back. "You're such a tree hugger," she grabbed onto his arm. "And sensitive…"

This made Ren slightly blush. "So?"

Nora gazed into his eyes. "It's cute."

"Gah!" Yang tugged on her hair in frustration. "Would you two stop it?"

Ren and Nora quickly pulled apart. Since they were near the back of the group, they thought they were being quiet and were surprised someone heard the conversation.

Nora played it off and slapped Ren's back. "He can't help himself, he's such a caring person!"

The blonde crossed her arms and lowered her tone, glancing at her white-haired teammate. "Unlike someone I know."

That caught Weiss' attention. "Hey!"

"I'm just messin' with ya, princess!" the blonde joked. "You're not so bad," she tugged on the red and orange scarf around her neck. "This baby has been keeping me toasty warm thanks to you."

"Not that it makes a difference," Weiss huffed. "You're a portable heater."

"You can't argue with that," Ruby chimed. "Remember when you first tried cooking, Yang?"

"Please don't go there," the blonde almost pleaded.

"Something _else_ that can make the brute embarrassed?" Weiss egged her teammate on. "Besides wetting the bed until you were four?"

Yang sighed and lowered her head in shame. "I was hoping you'd forget about that."

"It's okay," Nora tried to cheer her up. "Jaune wet the bed 'till he was ten!"

Jaune hastily covered her mouth. "Nora! You said you wouldn't say a word about that!"

"Ten?" Blake repeated, clearly shocked. "I understand ages one to five, maybe even six, but _ten_?"

"Jaune is…" Pyrrha contemplated her choice of words, trying to pick the right ones. "Special."

"Special?" Jaune exasperated.

Pyrrha sighed, knowing she picked incorrectly. "In a good way."

"Face it vomit boy," Yang grinned. "You're-"

Before she could finish the sentence, Blake turned on her heel and pulled out her weapon. She pivoted in the direction of a dense tree and a fierce growl rang out.

The blood-faunus slashed the beast, who hadn't even jumped out of the forestry to initiate an attack.

After slashing the beowolf multiple times, Yang was there to deliver the final punch. After the grimm dissipated, she swung her arms around in a bored fashion and a heavy sigh rang out.

"Damn, what was that? The tenth beowolf?"

Blake scanned their surroundings, her cat ears perked up and alert before sheathing her weapon. Yang and Blake turned around to see everyone, who weren't interested in the idle threat. It was clear they trusted them to deal with it when they didn't even spare them a glance.

"Get over it," the blood-faunus playfully rolled her eyes. "That's to be expected."

"Still, I wish we could have some fun with it," Yang said in a whiny tone.

The two then joined the safe formation and covered the rear. It was easy to figure out which partners would be where in the line formation that allowed the best safe travel. Ruby and Weiss were in the front because together, they're the quickest pair when it comes naturally for them to think on their feet.

Jaune and Pyrrha walked a few feet behind them. The redhead was one of the best in combat and the spot allowed her to watch for everyone's safety. Jaune on the other hand was surprisingly perceptive. After training with Pyrrha for so long, his reflexes had improved.

Ren and Nora were after them. That was mostly because Nora wanted to be near her other teammates and Ren couldn't argue.

Then there was Blake and Yang. The opposites of each other, but worked well together. Blake has the better reflexes in the group, while Yang was one of the more powerful tanks. Bringing up the rear required being on guard and watching their backs, something Blake was an expert at by this point.

"Where is the village anyways?" Yang asked the group. "Ozpin was really vague on directions."

"It should be a few more miles," Weiss informed while scanning the map she brought along.

Ruby pointed at the dot in the center of the map. "Ohhhh, right here?"

"Yes," the heiress replied after taking a sip of her red colored drink. "Although, it's getting dark. I don't think we can make it there before the sun sets."

Jaune tapped the heiress' shoulder and leaned over, trying to get a glance of the map. "Then we should find a place to camp. Look," he pointed to a thin colored stream. "Water should be up ahead."

"Now that you mention it," the aristocrat chimed, her bow twitched. "I hear it."

"You have marvelous hearing, Blake," Pyrrha observed.

After spending so much time with the other team, Blake knew she could trust them.

Her own team took the news of her being a faunus well, so she figured they'd be okay with it, too.

After gently tugging her bow, her fluffy cat ears were in view of everyone. Their expressions didn't seem disappointed, or even disgusted like she feared.

Instead, they seemed more intrigued than anything.

"Because I'm a blood-faunus."

From the revelation, Weiss' eyes widened when she realized Blake didn't catch her mistake.

"Blood-faunus?" Ruby cocked her head. "What the heck's that?"

Blake somehow kept her poker face. "I meant cat faunus. Sorry, I didn't mean to say that. It came out wrong."

Nice save.

While the teams discussed her revelation, Yang warily perked an eyebrow. Ever since the fight she witnessed between Weiss and Cardin, she had been suspicious of the sisters. She was still waiting for an answer from her white-haired teammate, but was growing a little impatient with how long she was taking to fill her in.

Now she knew Blake might be a vampire too, but the blonde kept her mouth shut as promised.

"They're so cute!" Nora's eyes were twinkling, her mouth dropped in awe. "Can I boop them?"

Blake subconsciously took a step back. "Boop?"

Nora giddily smiled and poked Ren on the nose. "Boop!"

Ren slightly yanked back with a faint smile.

The aristocrat shook her head. "No, no one touches the ears," she tied the bow back on.

"Aw, kitten," the blonde dramatically stated. "Not even me?"

"Not even you," she replied as if the answer was obvious.

"One day I'll get your permission," Yang said knowingly. "Count on it."

"Whatever you say," Blake highly doubted it.

The group had finally reached the clear stream of water and gazed down at it. Their reflections clearly glimmered back and stared. A few fish were swimming down to the body of the pond, where Blake suspected ended a few feet away.

By now, the sun was setting and Ruby took the liberty of handing out extra blankets to everyone. It was getting dark, so it would only get colder.

The further they ventured, the more it got cold. So night time would be chilly. After much debate, the group decided to keep a fire roaring in the night. They also decided there should be two people on watch at all times and have rotations, so they could each get a good amount of sleep.

Ruby had volunteered to take the first watch and when she asked who wanted to stay up with her, Blake's cat ears happily perked up and she volunteered as well.

The two were leaning against a tree trunk, separated from the rest of the group while the others slept.

"Thanks for volunteering with me, Blake," Ruby said genuinely as she ate some cookies. "I appreciate it."

"It's the least I could do," the blood-faunus shrugged it off. "You helped me when I was having really, really bad nightmares."

The word 'bad' didn't do the nightmares justice. Remembering her parents and the people who killed them on the cold wooden floor caused some nasty flashbacks.

The fire's crackling broke the silence before the leader replied. "I get those sometimes, too. Yang was always the one who cheered me up, so I know the feeling."

Blake stared in the distance, her amber eyes fixed on the vast, luminous sky. "We have a lot in common if you think about it."

"How so?"

"For starters, we're both adopted," the aristocrat recalled.

"Why were you adopted?" Ruby was almost afraid to ask and decided to go first to ease her teammate's nerves. "My mom died when she was on one of her missions. She was a huntress, too. I wouldn't say I'm exactly 'adopted,' but my half-sister Yang made me feel welcome in the family, even though I was really young at the time and never met her before," she remembered with a smile.

Blake could tell she was extremely fond of her family by how she talked.

Just listening to her describe the circumstances…

It made Blake's heart feel warm.

Ruby couldn't help but laugh. "I guess you could say me and Yang adopted each other."

"What's with that?" Blake asked in amusement.

Ruby shrugged. "It's just how I feel."

After listening to the fire roar for a few seconds, Blake spoke. "I was adopted because…"

"Yeah?" Ruby leaned in curiously.

"My parents died," her voice wavered. "I'm an orphan."

"Woah, Blake," Ruby gently grasped her hand for comfort. "I'm sorry, I had no idea."

Ruby connected well with her teammate in that regard. She lost her mother, but not both parents. Still, that helped her understand what Blake was thinking and how she felt.

Immense internal pain.

The blood-faunus pulled Gambol Shroud close, hugging the weapon in a tight grip. "It was a long time ago."

Ruby noticed the action and glanced from her weapon to Blake. "Did you get your weapon from them?"

"It was my father's," Blake stated. "He was going to give it to me when I got older, but…"

No matter what, Ruby wanted to ask questions, but knew it might be hard on her teammate. "It's okay, you don't have to talk about it. It's probably _really_ painful for you."

"No, it's okay," the aristocrat reassured. "I've been bottling it up this whole time, so I think talking about it would help. Especially with the nightmares."

"If you say so, but if you feel like you should stop at any time, lemme know, got it?"

Finally, Ruby would get a little glimpse into her teammate's past. The leader leaned in to listen intently.

Blake nodded and went on. "They died because…" she almost stopped, but persevered. "Because we were once members of the White Fang."

Blake expected her leader to looked shocked at least, but her expression never changed. There was no judgement present in those silver eyes, so the blood-faunus continued.

"That's why when Sun showed up and talked about the grimm being the White Fang's fault, Weiss was defensive about it," the aristocrat revealed. "She wasn't trying to be mean. She was just trying to do what she thought was best for me."

"I had no idea. I can't imagine what you felt like when you snuck into their base."

"It wasn't easy," Blake took a deep breath. "But as for the events leading up to my parents' deaths…"

Ruby scooted closer to her teammate, ready to provide any comfort possible.

"They spoke out against violence at one of the rallies. Later that night on the same day, two White Fang members raided our home."

"T-that must've been terrifying," the leader tried to imagine what that'd be like.

"It was," Blake confirmed and took a deep breath. "It was too late by the time I got to them."

"What happened to the people who killed them?" Ruby dared asked the one question Blake wanted to avoid.

Blake's stomach twisted and churned. It took all her willpower to stop herself from trembling. Her throat was cracked and dry and bile was stuck in her throat.

It was hard to breathe for a moment.

Only one person knew the truth of what happened on that day.

And Blake wanted to keep it that way.

Her teammates would probably think she was a monster if they found out.

She couldn't bite back the lie.

"They got away…"

"They're still at large, huh?" the leader gazed at the star-filled sky. The fire cackling in the background was her only answer, so she went on. "I'm so sorry, Blake. If you'd let me, I'd like to help you catch them and put them in jail just like we did to Roman."

Blake wiped the single tear that ran down her cheek. "I'd like that…" her words were empty like her eyes.

Ruby faintly smiled and gently glided her fingers through her teammate's bangs, knowing it was something Blake enjoyed.

The two stayed like that for a few minutes and star gazed, taking comfort in each other's presence. The last thing Ruby wanted to do was press Blake about a matter as sensitive as this, so they sat there in a cozy silence.

The blood-faunus was almost purring from the soothing motions, but then gasped at an epiphany.

"The base!"

Ruby jumped from the sudden outburst. "Gah! Blake! You scared the crap outta me!"

"Sorry," the aristocrat apologized. "Um… do you want to meet Weiss' older sister?"

Ruby perked an eyebrow. "'Weiss' older sister?'" she quoted, perplexed from her words. "Blake, even though you're adopted, she's your sister, too."

Up until this point, Blake had never referred to Weiss or Winter as her sisters. She'd never even realized. She was always so focused on how different she was from her adoptive family, rather than the similarities.

But they were family no matter what and it was time for her to accept that fact.

"You're right," she lowered her head in shame.

Ruby nodded. "I know and of course I'd like to meet her! I didn't know you had another sister."

"She's older."

With a smile, Blake took out her scroll and dialed Winter for a video chat, knowing she'd be up this late. Honestly, she needed a break from running the company. What was her father thinking? Dumping all his responsibilities on the eldest like that…

Winter appeared on screen after a few rings. "Blake!" she exclaimed. "I'm assuming you're Ruby?"

Ruby was too busy gawking at Winter to form a response. All the blood-related Schnee's sure looked alike. The leader was trying to piece together who looked more like whom. It was like a fun game.

"Yes, this is our leader, Ruby," the blood-faunus informed.

Winter had a perplexed expression. Ruby certainly didn't look like she could lead a team, but she took her sibling's words to heart. From her younger vampire sister's words, they both respected Ruby a great deal.

Since this wasn't what Winter expected, she just stared at the younger girl. "Interesting…" but it came out more as a question than a statement.

"Winter," that got her attention and Blake continued. "Remember how Sun and I broke into the White Fang hideout?"

"Yes," Winter confirmed. "Why? Is something wrong?"

"Oh yeah!" Ruby snapped out of her stupor. "Didn't you tell Weiss to tell you to remind you to tell Winter? She must've forgot."

"That doesn't matter because I remembered a few moments ago," Blake said. "When Sun and I entered a random room, there were dozens of atlesian robots."

Winter narrowed her eyes from the information, her expression conflicted as she processed the words.

"What's worse, there were possibly thousands of crates with the Schnee emblem hoarded in there."

Winter seemed to be deep in thought. "The White Fang have been nothing but a pain since I can remember. We'll look into it."

The blood-faunus had a smug grin when she realized her elder sister was referring to Qrow.

"We?" Ruby asked in confusion.

Winter's face flushed. "I meant me," and abruptly ended the call.

Blake shook her head, _you're so easy to read._

"What the heck was that about?"

"She doesn't like people seeing her flustered," Blake was starting to think that part of her would ever change.

"What did she have to be embarrassed about?" Ruby was still perplexed.

"She likes this guy she's back home with," Blake replied, amusement in her tone. "But she'd never admit it."

"I bet he likes her back," Ruby declared.

From what the leader could tell, Winter was gorgeous and nice. Any guy who'd turn her down would be a moron.

The blood-faunus liked her simple thinking before glancing at her scroll. "It's time to wake Jaune and Pyrrha. It's their turn to keep watch."

"Okay," Ruby stood and finished the last of her cookies. She didn't want to munch on them while Blake was talking about her past, something Blake secretly appreciated.

It took a while, but Jaune and Pyrrha finally woke up and took their positions next to a nearby tree.

Ruby and Blake felt at ease, and fell asleep next to the warm fire, glad that they knew more about each other.

* * *

The next morning, the group left at dawn. The last night watch was Yang and Nora, the deepest sleepers, so it was easy to rouse everyone to get back on the trail to Acacia.

Surprisingly, there were no troubles with grimm the night before, but they weren't about to complain.

It had been a few hours since they left on their trek and were nearing the destination. Each person had their own backpacks to carry. With the stream's help, they had fresh water filled in their water bottles for the journey.

Blake and Weiss however, regularly took sips of their blood tablet liquid during the hike, unbeknownst to everyone.

Now everyone was wearing gloves and snow started to drizzle from the sky. Without breaking formation, Weiss and Ruby led with a map in hand. They were so close to the village they could almost taste it, but Weiss couldn't take her leader seriously when Ruby tried to catch the snowflakes on her tongue.

Within seconds, they finally broke through the tree line and a village was in view.

"It's so cute," Yang couldn't help but murmur fondly at the scene.

Dull grass was covered in small amounts of snow that scattered the ground, kind of like powder. People used horses to get around their small town. Even though the place was quaint and small, it was bustling and full of life.

Despite their population dwindling, that didn't stop the citizens from going about their daily lives.

It was easy to tell the people were just as stubborn as Acacia. The village was beautiful. Many of the homes consisted of cabin style wood. Acacia seemed to emit its own aura.

The teams blended in perfectly with the scenery as they walked through the village.

Various shouts, chatters, and other sounds filled their ears. The most distinguishable noise was horses' neighs, or their hoofs meeting the soft snow.

"We made it!" Ruby pumped her fist in the air. "Now where're those beowolves?!" before she could bolt away, Yang grabbed her hood and her sister almost fell on the snow from the sudden force.

"Slow down, sis," Yang pulled Ruby's red hood over her head. "We should talk to the chief about the situation first."

"That's a grand idea," Pyrrha agreed and took the lead to find the person in charge.

After exploring Acacia, it wasn't hard to find the chief. He was a modest, yet burly man, who was waiting patiently for the teams. He was a man who seemed to only deal with business, and wasted no time in telling the large group where the general areas where the beowolf dens were located.

Their mission was just beginning.

* * *

 **This chapter used to be two separate ones, but I decided to combine them, which is why it's a tad long. Sorry about that, if they were separate it would've been kinda the same thing twice.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	32. Apprehension

To be more efficient in eradicating the multiple beowolf dens, teams RWBY and JNPR split into pairs amongst themselves. This way, it was easier to get a better understanding of the other team's combat styles.

It was safe to say each of the members were curious as how the others functioned in combat.

Leaders Ruby and Jaune were paired together. It was an odd combination, but the leaders thought it was a decent match.

Yang and Ren were opposites, just like how the original partners Ren and Nora were. The same could be said with Yang and Blake. The blonde was interested in what kind of combat combinations her and the quiet boy could come up with.

Then there was Weiss and Pyrrha, who were excited to get to know each other. Pyrrha was especially exhilarated because as far as she could tell, Jaune stopped flirting with the heiress. The redhead's jealousy had held her back from getting to know the white-haired girl until now and she secretly felt guilty about that.

Surprisingly, Blake was with Nora. No one really knew how that pair came to be.

Each pair split up and scattered to the surrounding areas of Acacia. To make things more efficient, Weiss had brought the earpieces they used for the White Fang infiltration mission.

Each person was still wearing an extra layer of clothing to prevent a frostbite. It wasn't snowing, but the white powder was still on the ground, leaving more than just a chill.

After talking to the chief of the village, the large group had a general idea of where the grimm were in several different locations.

The mission was simple. Destroy any grimm they encounter and annihilate multiple beowolf dens until the humble village found a permanent hunter to take their place.

Finding the alpha beowolf in charge of each pack would be easy. The challenge was to take each of them down. Even with the support of a teammate, it was difficult to pierce through the well-known tough armor. If they could get rid of the alphas, there'd be no grimm to lead their bloodthirsty pack to attack helpless victims.

Hesitantly, Jaune and Ruby approached one of the beowolf dens. Luckily for them, a lone beowolf approached its den to join its pack before the leaders could get too close. Jaune took this as his chance to sneak up on the grimm. Ruby only watched, trusting he could handle one beast.

From tiny footsteps to heavy stomps, the boy rapidly approached the straying beowolf that was about to enter the den. The grimm had no chance and turned around just in time for its head to be sliced off. As the heavy head fell on the ground, the noise alerted the rest of the beowolves inside the cave.

Realizing his mistake, Jaune backed away slowly with his shield and sword poised. "Eheheh…"

"Jaune," Pyrrha's voice chimed in his ear. "Is everything okay?"

"Woops-"

In a split second, Ruby glided passed the boy and entered the den with fearless eyes. She used sheer upper body strength to wield her scythe and twirl around to kill numerous grimm. The horde didn't even have a chance to dart outside and possibly coordinate an attack.

They grimm howled, alerting the rest that their den was in danger.

Not letting up, Ruby continued to whirl her weapon in a waterfall of red petals.

Meanwhile, Jaune stood outside and waited for grimm that tried to escape the slaughter. Various slices filled the air and echoed out the den. The boy could only cringe from the violent sounds. He didn't have much time to pay attention to his friend's assault and focused on the remaining grimm that escaped.

The beowolves he fought were more interested in getting away, so it was easy for him to chop off a few of their limbs before dealing the final blows. He kept in mind that any grimm that got away put the citizens of Acacia in danger. That was enough to compel him to kill every last one of them.

There were countless beowolves, so Ruby focused on annihilating the majority and remained in the cave. One after another launched themselves at her, but her defenses were unstoppable as long as she kept wielding her scythe.

During the fray, the alpha managed to escape its den. While the red reaper slaughtered its subordinates, it took that as its chance to escape and keep its life. Unfortunately for the alpha, Jaune was there to stall it by using his shield. Switching to a defensive tactic was safer when taking on a more dangerous opponent.

The alpha menacingly snarled and knocked the boy to the ground. In the process, his shield was knocked a few meters away. Immediately, the alpha straddled Jaune and let out a fierce growl. In response, Jaune's grip on his sword tightened. He was defenseless, but that didn't mean he couldn't do anything.

Just as the alpha was about to take a lethal swipe, Jaune took a deep breath to remember his training with Pyrrha.

She told him that not all swings with his sword would be precise and clear. That he needed to expect awkward cuts and angles in the future. From her advice, he trained countless hours and worked out different muscles that wouldn't be normally be trained with a normal swing of his sword.

At a jagged angle, Jaune managed to bring his heavy sword up to slice through the alpha's neck. In the process, he avoided any armor the alpha had. It was a clean sweep.

Ruby was there to watch him finish off the alpha and she helped him to his feet.

"We're done here. Good job, Jaune."

It was true Ruby killed majority of the grimm, but Jaune was far from useless. In fact, he was proud of himself and Ruby knew he deserved praise for his hard work.

"Nice job, Ruby," Jaune praised.

"Same for you, Jaune!" she chirped. "Why'd you have to get the alpha? You could've saved the most fun for me."

Jaune just laughed. "I'll remember that next time."

* * *

"We're done here," Ruby's voice chimed in Blake's sensitive ear.

"Great," Blake replied. "We'll be finished soon, although we haven't started yet."

"Good luck, kitty cat!" Yang's voice boomed on the other side. "Show 'em kitty's got claws."

The aristocrat sighed from her nickname her partner officially dubbed her. Electing to ignore her boisterous partner, she took out her trusty Gambol Shroud. Just as the blood-faunus was about to enter the beowolf den to finish the job, there was a loud thump from behind, causing her to almost lose her footing.

"Wooooooohoooooo!"

As Blake looked to the sky, she noticed a pink blob soar in the air with a deadly hammer extended.

"Wait!" Blake shouted as Nora plummeted to the ground. "We need to work toge-"

Nora's grin never faded as she smashed her hammer on top of the den. The violent aftershock caused the ground to tremble and shake. The rocks shattered into thousands of tiny pieces and the ground almost caved in. The boulders on top of the cave collapsed on top of every grimm inside with loud crunching sounds.

After the sounds of the grimm howling died out, a silence followed. Blake could only stand there and examine the aftermath.

"-ther..."

Nora simply hopped off the top of her destruction and whirled her hammer around.

"Any of you survive that?!"

Blake could only stare at the scene in utter shock. "Some teamwork…"

As she watched her temporary partner walk through the rubble to look for survivors, she figured she should do the same. The odd duo wanted to make sure every beowolf was dead and gone.

Nora wiped some debris off her skirt. "Never fear, Blake! The queen of the castle has saved the day!"

It was true.

Nora didn't leave her a single grimm to kill. The blood-faunus only rolled her eyes from her enthusiasm. It was like she couldn't catch a break from animated partners.

Just as the blood-faunus was about to give up the search, she noticed a black arm sticking out of the rubble. It twitched a few times, meaning whatever was under the rocks was alive.

The orange-haired girl noticed her partner was dead-set on killing at least one, so she let her.

This one was _all_ Blake's.

The aristocrat yanked the creature out of the harsh debris with all her might. A grunt of victory tang out when she realized what it was. To her surprise, it was the alpha. Well, it wasn't really a surprise, considering they're the strongest. It was just unexpected.

The alpha was in a severely weakened state. It couldn't even yank its arm out of Blake's loose grip. The beast could only attempt to snarl and fidget. To put it out of its misery, Blake used her katana and slit its throat with no hesitation.

"There," Blake hurled the corpse on the jagged rocks with stern amber eyes. "I wasn't completely useless."

"What happened?" Ruby's voice suddenly chimed.

"Nothing, really," Blake admitted. "Nora just used her hammer to annihilate the grimm. I barely got in one kill."

Ren joined in. "She tends to do that."

* * *

"Pyrrha," Weiss almost chided. "I do not agree with that plan. I know you're strong, but I won't standby idly for this."

"Weiss," Pyrrha said levely. "Let me do this."

"Why? What would you possibly have to gain from doing this by yourself?" Weiss crossed her arms, deep in thought. "I don't understand. Normally, you're all about teamwork."

"It's the least I can do…" Pyrrha murmured, her head dropped slightly.

The redhead felt like she owed the heiress. She felt guilty for harboring ill feelings towards her for an extended amount of time. Feelings of jealousy because Jaune kept flirting with her. When this is over and done, Pyrrha felt like she could finally let go of her feelings of guilt. She also thought that this would possibly make up for the feelings she had towards her up until this point.

Weiss had no clue what was bothering Pyrrha, but they had disagreed like this for five minutes. Seeing her temporary partner wouldn't drop it, the heiress reluctantly allowed the plan.

"Fine. Just this once."

But she wasn't happy about it.

That perked Pyrrha up. "Thank you and I'm sorry."

Weiss' eyes narrowed in suspicion. From her tone, she knew Pyrrha was apologizing for something else, something that had been troubling her.

With a nod of reassurance amongst each other, the two straightened up.

Weiss took that as her cue to conjure up some glyphs, allowing them to glide to the den they had located.

The trail of shimmering glyphs stopped just outside the entrance while Pyrrha flew through like a rocket. Her body hurled head first into the dangerous beowolf den. A split second before, she poised her sword and slammed into an unsuspecting grimm at full force.

A sharp yelp rang out, and from what Weiss could tell, it wasn't from her temporary partner. It belonged to a beast.

After the redhead began the ruthless slaughter, the heiress hoisted her rapier into the ground and shot up ice to cover the gaping hole over the entrance. This was to prevent any grimm from escaping. Although, this also trapped Pyrrha inside until she was finished with the grotesque job.

The vampire guiltily leaned on the frigid ice and listened to the beowolf's dying snarls, their desperate howls, and their limbs snapping in half. She was almost worried, but realized this was Pyrrha Nikos. In case, Weiss leaned in closer to the ice. Her slight worries were eased when Pyrrha's grunts of effort never faded along with her war cries.

Weiss technically allowed her temporary partner to go in a death-trap, but the redhead kept insisting it was necessary.

 _This isn't like Pyrrha._

When the last of the howls finally died out, the heiress used her fire dust to melt the giant ice shield. When that was done and steam surrounded the duo, Pyrrha beamed her a smile.

"Shall we get going?" the redhead didn't even look the slightest bit fatigued.

"I suppose," Weiss said in an irritated tone.

* * *

It was true Ren hadn't had many conversations with Yang. Judging by her boisterous personality and combat style, it came as no surprise to him when Yang charged in the den in a flaming ball of light.

Wanting to back her up, Ren ran by her side with Storm Flower at the ready. To add another shock to his system, the unlikely duo worked well together. For most of their combat time, they fought the grimm back to back in rapid succession.

The beowolves kept dropping one by one. Dropping like measly flies.

Sometimes, Ren switched from his gun to his honed martial arts skills. Since they were close in melee combat, it was easier to use close-range attacks rather than ranged. Watching Yang fight like a lion compelled him to give it his all and punch the daylights out of the grimm.

Successfully, the two dodged, deflected and struck the yowling grimm. However, when a beowolf almost swiped Ren, Yang jabbed it just in time. The impact was so violent it sent the beowolf flying into the dense rock wall as it yelped harshly.

A quick "thanks," was exchanged between the two.

Seconds later, dozens of boulders and debris smashed on top of the grouchy grimm. This ceased its movement and its arm went limp from under the rubble.

The odd duo stuck with their signature combat styles for several minutes. It was like this grimm's den was a beehive. Numerous amounts of beowolves appeared one-by-one. Some of them groups at a time.

Various howls and wails followed without fail. Ren and Yang were completely in the zone.

They were so focused they didn't even notice the grimm's numbers were slowly withering.

Without them taking notice throughout the battle, one of the beowolves kept bouncing back at them.

It was in that moment they realized the annoying grimm was the alpha.

"I trust you to handle the rest," Ren yelled over the bellows. Yang gave him a firm nod, indicating she would be the one to finish off the remaining smaller beowolves.

Immediately, Ren stormed the alpha, who was about to pounce on his blonde partner. To stop it from clawing and hurting Yang, he delivered a punch to the alpha's gut, where it lacked armor.

The alpha barked in pain and almost keeled over, but it recovered in time to block another hit from the boy.

The stronger grimm now had an iron grip around Ren's left arm, which was luckily his submissive hand. Just in time, he brought out his gun and sent several green streaks, sharp bullets, that pierced the air. This also aided his partner, who was still locked in combat.

When the bullets struck the grimm, it released his hand and Ren delivered his foot in a roundhouse kick to its side. Once the alpha shrieked, he used that as his chance to shoot the alpha in the head with no mercy like an executioner.

Just in time, Yang finished off the remaining weaker grimm and was heavily breathing from the work out. After wiping the sweat from her forehead, she grinned.

"Good job, Ren."

Ren sounded winded as well and watched the leader of the pack dissipate into nothingness. "We make a good team."

Out of nowhere, Nora's voice chimed in his ear. "Not better than us though~"

Yang giggled. "I wouldn't dare take him away from you. Besides, I have the best kitty cat around!"

"Would you quit it, Yang!?" Blake's irritated voice boomed in her ear.

The blonde couldn't help but laugh.

* * *

After annihilating the dens, the teams met up to discuss what happened on each end.

Snow drizzled from the sky and lightly blanketed the ground in serenity. Like there wasn't just several massacres on the grimm.

When they were huddled together in a large group, Yang happily used her semblance to keep her friends warm. It was easy to notice a few people shiver, although they were trying not to show they were cold, especially Weiss. Only Ruby knew what the blonde was doing, but it felt like a subtle blanket engulfed them.

They had a hunch it was because of their teammate dubbed a portable heater.

"I feel so useless," Blake sulked. "I just killed one _."_

"One?" Weiss scoffed. "I didn't kill any."

"My sincerest apologies, Weiss," Pyrrha chimed in a chipper tune like she had no regrets. "However, I wouldn't have been able to succeed if you hadn't made an ice barrier."

The heiress mildly scowled. Weak words. Of course the world renowned fighter would have been able to take down a beowolf den by herself.

From Pyrrha's 'ice barrier' comment, that sent swarming memories in Yang's mind. The last time her teammate made an ice barrier, it took her forever to melt through it to get to her dying friend. She made a mental note to finally question her teammate about the incident.

She didn't want to wait much longer for some much-needed answers.

While the teams chattered, Blake took off her backpack since it was weighing her down unnecessarily. Out of boredom, she decided to search for one thing. She checked several different pockets in the bag for the item, but she could only find the normal things. Like sleeping bags, water bottles, many different forms of dust, and extra earpieces.

After much rummaging, she came up blank for the one thing she wanted.

Frantic, she searched inside and out again. It didn't take long for Weiss to notice her dismay and distress.

"Blake?" Weiss called. "Is everything alright?"

But the aristocrat didn't answer. Her amber eyes widened when she knew for sure...

The blood tablets were gone.

"Blake?"

 _I don't understand,_ Blake thought. _My backpack was on me the whole time. They were in here._

Despite it being cold, a bead of sweat rolled down her forehead. Her stomach started to twist in a knot. She felt sick-

"Blake?" Weiss tried again.

 _Did they fall out? Did someone take them? No… I would've noticed…_

Finally, the heiress set a gentle, yet firm hand on her sister. This effectively grabbed her attention.

"What's wrong?" Weiss asked with a bit of force in her tone. She made sure to whisper to not cause a commotion or worry the rest of the group.

"I messed up, Weiss. I don't know where they went."

 _I didn't even move around that much today. How would they fall out? These pockets have zippers..._

The heiress' tone rose in alarm, although it was still a murmur. "What happened?"

"The blood tablets," the aristocrat still couldn't believe it. "They're gone."

 _Did someone really take them?_

Weiss took a deep breath and kept a levelled head. "Okay, don't panic. Hold on," she turned around and raised her voice to her leader. "Ruby, how much longer will we be here?"

Ruby was in the middle of talking to Pyrrha when she heard the call of her precious partner. "Probably one more day. That's when the chief said the permanent hunter should be here," she stated. "Plus, I have a feeling there are more dens around here. We've come this far, we might as well be thorough."

The leader made a good point and the group nodded amongst themselves. It was a reasonable guess.

Weiss nodded and turned around to face her sister, her voice more consoling. "You heard her, right? One more day. We can go that long without them. We can go weeks without them. We just need to be careful so we don't _need_ them."

It was nice to have them as back-ups, but now that they were gone, it put Blake at unease. If it did that for Weiss, she sure didn't show it. She was just trying to calm her sister's nerves.

Although she was worried, Blake knew her sister was right. "You're right," she admitted.

But she still had the nagging feeling that something was wrong.

 _Where'd they go?_

* * *

 **Not much happened this chapter, but I thought it'd be fun to mix JNPR and RWBY's combat pairings!**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	33. Strained Circumstances

After eradicating several beowolf dens around the area, teams RWBY and JNPR wandered in the village Acacia.

Before the sun set, a kind citizen offered them a place to stay in his family-run inn for free. They almost didn't accept, but the man insisted, stating this was his way of showing his appreciation for getting rid of the grimm that killed some of his friends.

Reluctantly, the large group accepted his kindness, knowing they couldn't get a better deal.

Each team had their own separate room. Before sunset, Yang told Weiss she needed to speak with her about a few things. Curious, Weiss agreed, which is why both were awake at 2:00 A.M. and wandering around in the pitch-black darkness.

When Ruby and Blake were sleeping soundly, the two walked through the village and headed to the surrounding area- where the numerous amounts of beowolves used to thrive. Yang wanted the two to be isolated because she knew the topic she was going to bring up was extremely sensitive and didn't want to take the chance for any straying ears.

Despite it being cold and dark, the scene was pleasant. Gentle snow lightly drizzled to the ground, giving it a shimmering powder appearance. The powder could easily pass as sprinkles from the heavens.

To provide some heat for her teammate, Yang lightly flared her semblance. The two were bundled up warmly, but the blonde sometimes couldn't read the poised girl for the life of her. So if she really was cold, she sure didn't show it.

"What do you need to talk about?" Weiss cut to the chase.

"I know I promised I wouldn't bring it up until you're ready," Yang stated. "But I've been waiting for an answer for a long time. I'm getting impatient."

 _Is she a vampire?_ Yang constantly asked herself. _Is what she and Cardin said true?_

Weiss stopped dead in her tracks and lowered her head to analyze the situation.

Her main job was to stall the curious blonde until they received the 'okay' from Qrow and Winter. She tried to think of ways to divert her attention away from the topic, but every outcome she could see was Yang getting angry. Yang getting angry was never good.

Soon, she whipped her head up to meet her teammate's gentle gaze.

"You mean about that night, right?"

"Yeah," the blonde nodded. "It's just… I don't know what to think about it. I'm constantly thinking about it. If you don't tell me soon, it might put a strain on the team and that's the last thing I want to happen."

"Look, Yang," Weiss spoke seriously. "I talked to some people and they told me to stall you until they figure out how to break the news," she gathered there was no point hiding it. Sometimes, telling the truth was better than little white lies.

The two walked in the darkness, the moon was their only light as it beamed on the forest. Besides, after everything that's happened, her blonde teammate gave her no reason to not trust her.

"Hmm," the blonde murmured. "Who exactly are these 'people?'"

The vampire felt content when speaking the truth. For once, she felt like a pressure was off her chest when she didn't feel the need to lie. "My sister and her friend."

"Blake?" Yang asked, perking an eyebrow. "She's part of it?"

"She _is_ part of it, I won't deny that," the heiress admitted. "But no, my other sister and her friend."

Amusement sparked in those lilac eyes. "You have another sister?"

"She's the oldest and her name is Winter," the vampire said fondly.

"Ah," Yang grinned. "Do you look exactly like her, too?"

"That's beside the point," Weiss huffed, which caused Yang to grin. She didn't deny it. "Until she gives Blake and I the 'okay,' you must be left in the dark. I know it's frustrating, but please be patient."

"I'm not mad," the blonde assured. "I'm worried more than anything. I care about you and want to help."

"You've been helping..." Weiss trailed off.

There was an inkling of doubt to the blonde that she'd been helping. Up until this point, she felt like she was in the way.

"I've been helping?" Yang had to hear it for herself. "How?"

"More than you'll ever know…" the vampire murmured.

It was obvious the white-haired girl wasn't going to give her a straight answer, so Yang just softly sighed and rubbed the back of her head. "Kay, I'll trust your judgement. I just hope I don't have to wait much longer."

"I'm not sure how long the wait will be," Weiss informed. "Until then, keep being your typical brute self and things should be fine."

From that, Yang grinned broadly and saw the chance to tease her. "Is the actual strategy to wait until I forget? Cuz that won't work."

"Of course it's not!"

A slight giggle escaped Yang's lips and she suddenly gripped the heiress' cold hand. "Weiss, I want you to know more than anything that I want to help you in any way I can."

Weiss took a moment to weigh her words. Why was Yang so understanding and sweet? Why'd she care so much? Did she care for her well-being that much or was this just her normal nature?

Kind, caring, honest, beautiful...

The warmth her hand emanated combined with her thoughts caused Weiss to blush. She wasn't opposed to the hand-holding contact, it was just unexpected and… nice.

"That's very kind of you," the heiress stated. "That's what friends are for."

For some reason, Yang felt rejected when she heard her teammate say 'friends.' She didn't know why and it was frustrating. All she knew was that she'd do anything to help the heiress. To see her smile and be happy.

Despite her slight inner turmoil, Yang acted naturally. "Nope," she proudly pointed to herself. "That's what brutes are for."

An amused chuckle slipped out from Weiss. "You're starting to get it."

The two shared laughs in the silent night and enjoyed each other's company. It had been a while since they were alone like this. They walked in comfortable silence for a while and enjoyed the floating snow all around them.

It was almost like a dream...

… Until Weiss realized they were still holding hands. Immediately, she pulled away and had a fierce blush. From that, Yang giggled at her flustered expression.

"What's the matter, princess? Can't handle this?" Yang gestured to her entire body.

"Don't be a pest!"

"You're callin-'"

The blonde didn't have time to finish her sentence when she was slammed to the ground. Even though snow coated the forest floor, it was still a harsh impact because of the sheer force. All the air rushed out of her lungs from the sudden collision, leaving her to gasp.

"Yang!" she heard her teammate plea.

A beowolf snarled and straddled the shocked Yang. The beast was clearly attempting to bite her face. It was true the blonde was caught off guard, but she was still stronger than most people. On instinct, she used her arms as a shield to take the blows, but that wasn't needed. As quickly as it knocked her to the ground, the grimm was forcefully roundhouse kicked off her.

The next thing she knew, Yang saw a black propulsion glyph just above her. Then Weiss was suddenly leaning over her and held out her hand. With a smile, Yang grabbed the hand and stood.

"Thanks for that."

Dozens of growls erupted all around them, prompting the two to take their combat stances. The duo stood back-to-back and examined their environment.

They were surrounded.

"Don't thank me yet."

"I think we missed a den," Yang tried to joke and cocked her gauntlets. "Is there any way to call for backup?"

"No," Weiss poised her rapier. "I didn't bring the earpieces."

"That won't-" a beowolf lunged at Yang and she punched it, sending it flying backward. "-matter!"

The rest of the pack attacked after that beowolf took the lead. The huntresses-in-training fought side-by-side, with Yang swinging her fists and Weiss thrusting at multiple targets with her rapier. Howls echoed in the night along with their grunts of effort.

Every now and then they would check on each other to see how they were doing. The pure amount of beowolves was overwhelming and the fight had no end in sight, even after several minutes in this manner.

The weak grimm weren't that hard to take down. But endurance wasn't one of Weiss' strong points, unlike her brawling teammate. They couldn't go like this forever, so Weiss formed a glyph several feet high up with a solid plan in mind.

"Yang!"

"On it!"

Due to combat practices as a team, Yang knew exactly what to do. After dodging a lethal swipe, the blonde hopped on a smaller glyph glued to the ground. It propelled her upward and gave her a boost to reach the bigger one in midair. To help aid in the jump, she shot her gauntlets for the recoil and flipped, rolling on the midair glyph successfully with a light thump.

While Weiss was busy shooting ice dust at the grimm on the ground, Yang flared her aura for what she had planned. After she punched her hands together, roaring flames erupted and emitted from her body. She then leapt off the stable glyph head first with her fist cocked back.

The heiress jumped back several feet to avoid the harsh impact. Yang's fist collided against the ground at full force, utterly obliterating the area. There was a loud bang and everything shook, including the trees. Feet of snow shook off the plantation and created a giant cloud of white powder. The lethal punch ultimately caused the remaining beowolves fly unceremoniously.

A minute of agonizing silence passed as Weiss tried to see through the powdery snow clouds. There wasn't a single sound, except for the harsh pants of the vampire. There were no howls, no shaking of the trees and more worrying… no Yang.

"Yang?"

Weiss called out tiredly, trying to see through the snow and dust that lingered in the air, but it was too dense.

A yellow blob emerged from the snow and ashes. It was like watching someone rise from the dead. Especially when the blonde stumbled out of the rubble.

"Ohhh man that was fun," Yang shook her dominant right hand. "Did we get all of 'em?"

Weiss was about to yell at Yang for almost giving her a heart-attack, but she bit her lip. From the way her blonde teammate was acting, she was perfectly fine. After checking her over, Weiss concluded there was no need to worry and scanned her surroundings.

The area was vacant, with some dust and snow still lingering in the air. The area that was punched was now a gaping hole in the ground. Most importantly, the pack of beowolves were defeated.

"I think... you got them all."

Yang dusted herself off. "Damn, princess, we should do that move more often."

After the vampire swallowed to wet her dry throat, she spoke. "Let's… head back," she was about to pivot on her heel, but Yang grabbed her arm, concern laced in her eyes.

"Are you okay?"

The heiress finally caught her breath. "Yes, I just used too much aura."

"If you say so-"

Suddenly, something hit them from behind and they let out high-pitched yelps. It felt like a boulder slammed into them at full force and that rattled their skulls. The two clashed on the snow. Despite the ground being soft, it was like a truck slammed into them. Weiss slowly shook her head to gain her bearings. It didn't take her long to notice part of her combat outfit was torn on her back. The marks looked like claws.

Slight blood dripped out of her back, but from what she could tell, it was just a graze. That's when she remembered her teammate and frantically checked her over. Her worst fears were confirmed when there were deep gash wounds over Yang's left shoulder. Blood seeped over her back and red mixed with white.

Adrenaline pumping, Weiss shot up.

Her voice was soft, as if she was afraid her teammate wouldn't respond. "Yang? Yang?"

No response. Yang was out cold.

The vampire deduced her teammate slammed her head even harder against whatever hit them. It was a grotesque and morbid scene, blood pooling all around them. It was true Weiss smelled her delicious blood, but she wasn't tempted in the slightest. The situation called for her attention and there was no way in hell she'd take advantage of her unconscious friend.

 _She's badly injured,_ Weiss observed. _No..._

A weak groan.

"Hang in there, you hear me?" after she lovingly cupped Yang's cheek, she stood.

Whatever hit them needed to be taken out as soon as possible. The sooner Weiss could rid the threat, the sooner she could help Yang.

The heiress narrowed her eyes and scanned her surroundings, only to find nothing…

Until she looked to the sky.

 _A nevermore!? Why didn't we hear it?!_

The beast screeched, causing the trees to almost shake from the fierceness. In a split second, the overgrown bird glided back around and headed straight for Weiss. To ready herself, she poised her rapier. As the nevermore neared, Weiss' left foot stepped forward and her right took a step back to brace for the harsh impact that was sure to come.

Another menacing shriek and the giant bird collided its massive talons against her thin weapon. Luckily, the vampire parried its sharp nails, even having enough time to dodge in the process. However, her grip wasn't as tight as it should've been in her state of panic. This caused her weapon to yank out of her grasp and slide across the snow-covered ground.

Now it wasn't visible in the deep snow and she had no idea where it landed.

Another swoop.

Another tumble.

In a desperate situation, her mind started to wander.

 _I can't use it,_ she elected to search for the life-saving rapier instead of using her vampire ability with zehn. She needed to save as much energy as possible. Depletion of zehn was _never_ good for a vampire. Saving her energy would also help Yang in the long run.

Before she could start the search, a roar grabbed her attention. It was definitely not the sound a nevermore could make and it came from behind. Hastily, she whirled around and noticed it was a giant ursa. What's worse, it had its full attention on her unconscious teammate.

It was true ursa were slow, but at this rate the threat would reach Yang before Weiss could.

The ursa bellowed and rapidly neared the unmoving blonde on all fours.

At this rate...

She watched in horror as the ursa swiped-

" **Yang!** "

* * *

Her bountiful zehn allowed her to create an ice barrier around Yang.

In a blur of dizzying white, it encased her downed teammate in a veil of protection. The process was so quick the ursa's paw hit the frigid ice and the beast had a confused expression.

From the distance, the heiress sat there in shock as she processed what just happened.

A black figure sat in the trees several feet away.

A woman was shrouded in darkness.

She'd been watching for several minutes from the shadows with an amused smirk.

As she observed the frantic heiress, the woman clutched a handful of pills.

 _I was correct,_ she ominously thought. _Summon, you damned pureblood! Prove yourself!_

* * *

Weiss' distraught heartbeat finally slowed when she realized her teammate was safe for the time being. As long as Yang was in the ice barrier, she was secure. From experience, the vampire knew her ice casted by zehn was extremely hard to break, even for the most powerful of grimm.

When the ursa swiped again at the ice barrier, that sent her into action. With no hesitation, the heiress created large ice picks to impale the beast. The attack sapped a lot of her zehn, but it was worth it when the large grimm went down after the fifth shard impaled its side and it collapsed by the ice shield.

When the corpse started to wither away, Weiss focused her full attention on the sky.

The nevermore soared very high the air. Screeching, it dove for another attack. The sudden dive caused a violent air propulsion, sending some trees flying. Snow also kicked up off the ground and swarmed the sky in a massive cloud of white.

For the counterattack, Weiss dropped to her knees, knowing what she had planned would strain her body and would more than likely knock her off her feet anyways. Forcing some of the zehn out of her body, she let out a scream that pierced the air. It was more threatening than any of the overgrown bird's squawks.

Her opponent didn't even have the chance to get close to its prey. The dangerous grimm halted suddenly mid-glide. It released a whimper, the beast now seemed like it was reduced to an ordinary, overgrown bird. Due to Weiss' attack, it was impaled in the neck with an ice shard as large as its body. The shard was embedded in the ground and towered to the sky, penetrating the beast's armor and skin. The nevermore was deathly still, its dark eyes widened in shock.

Weiss was on all fours, struggling to breathe from the lack of energy. Unable to retain the ice, the vampire recalled the colossal shard and collapsed, almost face planting.

Although the nevermore was beginning to dissipate, the corpse wasn't gone. When the sharp shard suddenly disappeared, the huge body dropped to the ground. The result was a uproarious thump and shook Remnant. The collision was so violent it caused Weiss to rock even when she was lying on the cold forest floor, trying to catch her breath.

She couldn't lay down forever, but she just needed enough energy to help Yang. With urgency, she did her best to recover as soon as possible. Labored breaths masked the silence for a couple of minutes, until they returned to a steady rhythm. When the aftermath settled, she forced herself into a sitting position.

When things were finally at peace, the heiress swept her hands through the snow. By sheer luck, she found her rapier. Faintly smiling from the feat, she stood, although wobbly, and was about to go help her downed teammate, but more beowolves surrounded her.

This many grimm was overwhelming…

Unbeknownst to her, while she was locked in combat, Yang began to stir.

Yang finally regained consciousness and immediately yelped in pain from the gashes in her shoulder. She placed a hand over them to help stop the harsh, painful pounding. When the pain subsided, she opened her eyes and once the blurriness cleared, it didn't take her long to realize she was stuck in an all-too-familiar icy barrier.

The blonde shot up with pure adrenaline taking over. Thanks to that, she was no longer able to feel the throbbing pangs in her shoulder.

"Weiss!" Yang pounded on the ice as she watched her teammate take on the pack alone. "Let me out!"

The heiress didn't hear her as she kept fighting, visibly out of breath. Yang couldn't waste a second, so she flared her aura.

 _This won't be like last time,_ Yang promised herself. _She needs help NOW!_

With a war cry, scorching hot flames enshrouded the inside of the barrier and almost exploded. Yang cracked her knuckles and punched the ice desperately and relentlessly, like she just woke up from a nap fully charged. Pleased to see her technique was working, she wailed on the barrier even harder with her fists blazing. Due to her franticness, she was much harsher on the ice than in the past and the ice finally broke and simultaneously melted. After a determined grunt, she threw herself at the weakened ice and rolled on the snow-covered ground.

Now free, instinct took over and her feet moved on their own.

Red clouded her vision.

Before she knew it, no beowolves remained and Weiss was in sight.

"Hey, you okay?" the blonde noticed her teammate had trouble breathing.

The heiress very nearly collapsed, but Yang was quick and coaxed her in her arms.

"W-whoa easy there," Yang's voice rose in alarm, but she was starting to feel fatigue as well. Her adrenaline could only spike for so long.

The white-haired girl remained silent and squeezed her eyes shut, writhing in her arms. Yang wondered if it was from pain, but she realized Weiss seemed to be fighting something internally.

She was trying to get away.

A red tint escaped Weiss' natural azure eyes.

A concerned lilac gaze trailed to Weiss' mouth that was heaving. Her teammate also had fangs as she struggled out of her grip.

 _So she is one,_ Yang thought. _Not that I'm surprised. This just confirms it._

Yang could only stare down at her in concern.

"G-get away from me!" Weiss begged.

She was still squirming to get out of her arms, but Yang kept a firm grip. In the vampire's weakened state, there was no way she could fight Yang. Knowing she was trapped, Weiss covered her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut, hoping to hide the vampire characteristics.

Weiss wouldn't be able to control her urges in this state. She'd used nearly all her zehn, depleted most of her aura, she was short of breath.

And she was near a human…

The smell of Yang's gash wounds sent her into a state of near frenzy, but Weiss refused to let her urges overrun her. They never have completely and she wasn't about to start tonight. Despite her turmoil, her eyes warped to an even darker shade of red.

"It's okay," Yang spoke softly to calm her. This was obviously a well-hidden secret and Yang wanted to show her there was nothing to fear. Her gentle hand ran through her ruffled snow-white hair. "I don't know the whole story, but if you need it," she tugged the orange-red scarf, exposing her neck. "Take it."

Weiss gulped, clearly in disbelief from the offer.

Drinking her teammate's blood wasn't right.

It was totally wrong-

" _Please_ ," the blonde urged. She _hated_ seeing her precious teammate like this.

"I-I can't," it came out as a sob.

"You're hurt," Yang explained. "If this will make you feel better, I want to help. You know that."

Her only reply was Weiss weakly gripping the snow and slightly turning away.

How many times has Yang saved her?

Why would she offer her vital liquids to someone as pathetic as her?

"It's what friends are for," the blonde stated firmly.

The heiress' breath hitched when Yang coaxed her closer to her neck, making sure to brace her hand on the back of her shivering head. If it had been any other situation, Weiss was sure she would've liked the contact.

"Please don't feel bad."

Tears streamed down Weiss' cheeks and she choked back several sobs.

"I'm sorry…" she weakly murmured.

"It's okay, princess," Yang reassured and whispered sweetly in her ear. "Don't worry. Everything's okay."

With permission, Weiss, as gently as possible, sunk her fangs into Yang's smooth skin.

* * *

 **That finally happened. Been waiting to post this one forever. Hope it was good!**

 **IMPORTANT: due to many assignments before spring break, this story will go on hiatus for around 1-2 weeks. Then it will again for spring break because hellloo? It's a break and I neeeeed one xD. That'll only be around two weeks then it will be back to the regular Sunday schedule! Just a heads up.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	34. Promise

**What up! This is back (for now) after just an extra week! 34 is up (obviously) and now I'm on break for a few weeks, so chapter 35, called, "We're Ready" will be released April 2nd. Sorry for the weird timing. Enjoy your spring break and the inevitable fluff!**

* * *

The calm snow was drizzling and coated the forestry.

The peaceful, pure white was dyed a red hue. Two bodies sat in the middle of it all, not having the energy to shiver from the cold.

One by one, her senses trickled back into play. She didn't even know what was happening, or why her body was reacting this way.

Only the sounds of slurping snapped her out of her stupor.

Dark red eyes that once pierced the moonlit darkness shifted to a calm blue.

Exercising great self-control, Weiss removed her fangs from Yang's fragile neck.

It was then that reality hit her like a truck.

Her fangs had pierced her precious teammate's flesh. She _bit_ Yang for sustenance.

Despite what transpired, Weiss felt warm…

More than anything, she was comforted by the blonde's gentle touch.

That itself overrode the feelings of guilt. Only slightly.

The vampire stared into Yang's concerned gaze. Her blood-stained fangs were on display and tears threatened to spill over. Despite what she did, Yang didn't look frightened. Not at all. In fact, all those lilac orbs displayed was pure worry.

Biting a human for blood didn't turn the human into a vampire, but the issue was resisting to consume even more blood and possibly killing the person. Thankfully, all those years of resisting their vampiric urges had paid off.

The heiress sipped just enough to sustain her zehn and stay conscious. The two sat there in a tranquil silence as snow drizzled from the sky. They held each other in a light embrace, more or less to calm themselves in silent reassurance that everything would be okay.

As they sat there, Weiss contemplated the situation. She didn't know how to describe how she felt.

She felt ashamed, terrible, wonderful at the same time.

And extremely guilty for craving more of her teammate.

She'd never bitten a human personally for blood before. All the blood she received in her life was given by her father, who did most of the dirty work to provide for his family.

If Weiss had a choice, she would never bite her teammate again. However, the two knew it was a desperate situation and what's worse, the blood tablets were missing.

Bad luck.

Overtime, Weiss' fangs slowly retracted and she hastily licked her mouth of the blood.

From the hastiness of her teammate, Yang gave her an earnest, kind smile. The blonde lovingly wiped some of the blood off the corner of Weiss' mouth that she missed. Gradually, she leaned forward with a fading smile.

"See…?" Yang murmured. "That wasn't so… bad…"

Before Yang could finish her soothing words, her eyes fluttered shut and she slumped forward in Weiss' arms. The vampire sat there in shock with trembling lips to process what happened. Her beloved teammate in danger because of _her_. Swiftly, the heiress supported her limp weight and turned her over so she could see her face.

Yang's face was calm like she was just taking a nap. But Weiss knew it was far more serious. Normally, the fiery brawler had a healthy complexion, but she was turning as white as a ghost.

Weiss gasped and tried to rouse her, thinking the worst. "Yang?" she gave her a few moments for her to form a reply, but Yang didn't so much as flinch. Her voice raised in alarm. "Yang! Yang! Oh god, wake up!"

That's when the heiress realized Yang still had those horrible gash wounds on her left shoulder.

And she also took some of her blood….

She was bleeding out.

"No, no, no, no!" the heiress carefully wrapped an arm around her waist and gently laid her teammate on her stomach to examine the wounds. While doing so, she treated her as glass. "Don't you die on me, got it Yang?! I won't forgive you if you do! You hear me?!"

When she got no response, Weiss frantically hovered her hands over the injured shoulder. Three nasty talon marks tore deep into her skin and seeped blood. Right now, all Weiss could think about was saving her precious friend. The blood was just in the way.

It was true her aura was low, but she'd be damned if she let Yang die on the cold, unforgiving snow in a pool of her own blood. It was her fault Yang was in this condition, so she _had_ to save her!

After focusing, the vampire managed to successfully drag the remains of her aura and pushed her own energy into Yang. It didn't take long for black spots to fill her vision, but she persevered, not stopping until the gashes were completely sealed. It only took a few seconds to shut the wounds, but it felt like she'd run five marathons. After taking in some greedy gulps of air, she composed herself as best as she could.

With that, most of the bleeding had stopped.

The real danger was gone, so that relieved her a bit.

A few moments past until she was well enough to move on with the process.

Now she had to close the bite wounds.

Carefully, Weiss tilted Yang's head to face her. However, pesky blonde hair covered up the bite marks. With great care, she in brushed Yang's hair to the side, knowing she took great pride in the impressive mane. Some blonde strands stuck to the wet blood and she guiltily wiped them away to get a better view.

A sting of regret shot through her when she saw the wounds she inflicted on her teammate. There were just two dots, but they were deep and looked awfully painful. Brushing her negative thoughts aside, Weiss hovered her hands over the small wounds and rang out more aura.

During the process, more remorse consumed her being. It was like covering up a crime.

Once the bite wounds closed, the vampire took comfort in the fact that Yang was no longer bleeding at all. In fact, she could've sworn some of the healthy pallor was coming back to those cheeks. But she didn't know for sure. The frigid snow could have easily numbed even the fiery brawler.

The blood on Yang's back was drying, but the blood that soaked the ground seeped into the snow.

Sealing multiple wounds totally drained Weiss. She leaned over her teammate protectively, heaving while on all fours as she stared at the grotesque scene.

 _I need to get her out of here._

Slowly, she grabbed Yang's limp arm and wrapped it around her shoulders to support her. However, she lost more energy than she'd originally thought, so when she moved to stand, she fell forward on the snow next to her downed teammate.

The adrenaline was the only thing that kept her going until that point. When it wore off, she realized she used up too much aura _and_ zehn, leaving her more than exhausted. She'd never felt this drained in her entire life.

Even after the impact, her body was too numb to feel cold. She ached all over, her body not even having enough energy to tremble.

 _No… not here… not now..._

She felt herself slipping as her vision turned dark. She tried to fight it.

She _had_ to!

The last thing she needed was to leave Yang defenseless in the middle of a grimm infested forest.

The last of her energy was her trying to force her limbs to move, but they refused to comply.

No matter how hard she fought, she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer and she only saw darkness.

The snow never stopped drizzling...

* * *

Calming rays flowed and beamed down on the sleeping blonde.

Things have never been so serene, but as soon as Yang furrowed her eyes, she knew something was wrong. It was a gut feeling more than anything.

As a result, she sat up with a gasp and frantically checked her surroundings.

Everything seemed normal.

A little _too_ normal.

 _Was that a dream?_

Instead of feeling cold, warmth enshrouded her body. Which was odd, one of the last things she could remember was how unbearably freezing she was. It was then that she realized she was back at the inn and in bed. The blankets provided a comforting feeling.

Yang stared off into space at the flaming fire in the furnace, thinking that what happened was a dream. It would make sense, considering she was in a clean pair of pyjamas.

Then, an image flashed in her mind. It was Weiss.

Her bloody fangs, the helpless look in her eyes. Yang's breath hitched, that was a memory she could never forget. That picture was practically burned in her mind.

"Easy, Yang," what sounded like Ruby called. "Do you remember anything?"

Like that, the blonde snapped out of her stupor. She was so wrapped in her thoughts she didn't notice her little sister's presence.

From the question, everything came rushing back. What happened last night definitely wasn't a dream.

Yang almost panicked and breathed heavily, which caused Ruby to lean in with concern.

"Hey-"

"Weiss!" Yang yelped. "Where is she?!"

"She's right here," Blake chimed from across the room.

With that, Yang whipped her head to the general direction of the voice.

The aristocrat had been sitting by her sister's bed, waiting for her to come to.

From the sight, Yang sighed in relief. Seeing Weiss safe and sound in a cozy bed eased her nerves. Especially when she was sleeping so peacefully in her nightgown. From what she could tell, she had no injuries and was in a deep slumber.

"Thank god…"

Amber eyes narrowed. Yang made it sound like something awful happened last night and she wanted to get to the bottom of it. "What the hell happened?" her tone lowered, as if she was challenging her partner to tell the truth.

Blake didn't like the fact that she found people she cared about so dearly unconscious in a pool of blood and wanted to know the reason. And she hoped it was a damned good one, otherwise, she didn't know what she'd do.

"Yeah, Yang," Ruby said softly. "We found you two covered in blood in the forest. You scared the crap out of us!"

Yang flinched from her sister's raised voice.

Ruby lightly smacked her sister upside the head. "What the heck happened?!"

The blonde gingerly rubbed the spot, thinking that only Weiss had playfully hit her like that before.

"We… I… I wanted to talk to her about something," Yang gripped the blankets tightly. She wasn't too keen on them knowing why she wanted to talk with Weiss, so she skipped that part. "Before we knew it, tons of grimm attacked us."

Instead of her previous anger, Blake was overwhelmed with curiosity as her cat ear flickered. She suspected what her partner wanted to talk to the heiress about, but with Ruby present, she wasn't about to press. Talking about vampires was a topic she wanted to dodge at any cost.

Ruby didn't seem to mind her sister skipped the details. All she cared about was that Yang seemed okay and not injured. "I'm so glad we got to you in time. Blake woke me up when she realized you were both gone."

"Thanks for the save, guys," the blonde said genuinely. "If you didn't find us I don't know what would'a happened…"

"You were covered in blood, Yang," Ruby said, frightened. Obviously, she couldn't let go of that detail. "Do you know how scared we were!?"

"I'm sorry," Yang genuinely apologized. "I'm sorry, Ruby."

Ruby sighed and scanned her sister. "I checked you over a few times, but you have no injuries, are you sure you're okay?" she was second-guessing that her sister was completely fine. Especially since there was a pool of blood when she found them.

From the question, Yang glanced from Ruby to the sleeping Weiss, a faint smile present. She figured her teammate used aura transfer while she was unconscious and remembered the events before that.

Her fingers glided over her neck, an action Blake didn't miss.

The blonde then rubbed her left shoulder and knew for a fact her body was in good shape.

"Yeah," Yang confirmed. "I feel fine now, I promise. S'all thanks to the princess. She saved me."

"You saved me too, Yang," Weiss' enervated voice reminded. "Don't forget that."

From the reply, Blake worriedly leaned over her sister, obvious worry present in those amber eyes. To Yang, her white-haired teammate sounded grateful, albeit fatigued. Those words warmed her heart and made her realize she would do absolutely anything for her.

"No problem, I'd do it again in a heartbeat," the blonde beamed her signature grin. "You feelin' okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Weiss assured. "Tired, but fine. Are you okay?"

"Thanks to you," the blonde said and looked to Ruby. "Are we still staying for another day? Trust me when I say this, me and Weiss probably destroyed an army of grimm."

"You guys probably got rid of the rest of the beowolves," Ruby almost giggled. "Maybe Ozpin should have just sent you two."

As the sisters laughed, Blake whispered down at her vampire sister.

"What happened?"

"Blake, please…" the heiress murmured. "Not now."

"What?" the blood-faunus felt a deep sinking in her stomach. "Why not?"

Weiss bit her lip and turned on her side as she faced the wall, away from Blake. The last thing she wanted for her sister to find out was that Yang was almost killed because of her selfish needs.

Blake was so used to sharing everything with her sister, so to be turned down…

It must have been serious.

"Weiss," Blake shook her shoulder. "If you can't tell me now, you have to later, okay?"

From the statement, Weiss curled in on herself and pulled up the blankets as if she was trying to ignore the conversation.

The aristocrat's cat ears flattened on her head. "Weiss… please?"

Little did Blake know, it took all of Weiss' self-control not to let the tears fall. All she could do was lay there in silence when she heard Blake's rejected voice.

"Weiss!" Blake exclaimed more out of frustration than anger to get her attention, from that, the blankets flinched.

"Blake," Yang called out, sensing Weiss needed space. "Can you and Ruby give me some time alone with her?"

After checking her over one last time, the blood-faunus reluctantly stood, wondering what happened between the two. More than anything, she wondered if her sister would keep the secret from her. She didn't know how she felt about that. All she knew was that it made her incredibly sad and a bit… betrayed.

With some coaxing from Ruby, the two walked to the exit, still trying to shake off the morbid scene they'd originally found half their team lying in.

"Take all the time you need," Ruby said.

Yang sensed there was a hint of sorrow in her sister's voice. And yet, she was still trying to be brave in the face of something so incredibly confusing.

Before closing the door, Blake cast one last concerned glance at her sister, who was still hiding under the covers.

After the door shut, Yang scooted over to her teammate and stared at the blankets Weiss buried herself in.

"You doin' okay?"

Knowing it was just those two now, Weiss felt safe to crawl out of her haven. Slowly, she pulled down the covers and sat up with Yang's hand bracing her back, even though she didn't need the help. "I just… I don't want to do that to you ever again."

"Now I know you're a vampire," the blonde murmured softly, but strongly. Her statement made sure to show Weiss there was no doubt present. "It's okay. I'm not angry at you. I'm just really glad you're okay."

Weiss lowered her head. "Yang…" her voice wavered as she tightened her grip on the sheets. "You almost died."

The blonde wrapped her in a rare _gentle_ hug, catching her teammate off guard and she tried to pull away. "It's okay," Yang tightened her hold. "We're both safe and sound. That's all that matters."

"How can you be like this?!" Weiss exclaimed, the shout causing her body to tremble. "How are you so nonchalant about this whole thing?! _I_ almost _killed_ you, Yang!"

Yang slightly pulled apart and blue eyes met lilac. Yang's hands were now firmly on the heiress' shoulders, almost to smack some sense into her. "You're my friend and teammate, Weiss. Who's to say you wouldn't have died if I didn't let you… you know."

"I'm sorry," the heiress said earnestly, eyes almost watered. "That won't _ever_ happen again. I promise," she stated firmly.

"Listen," Yang said, meaning every word she was about to say. "If you need… blood…. like that ever again, don't hesitate to take some. There's plenty of me to go around," she sent a wink.

More air blew out of the vampire's nose than usual when she suppressed a faint chuckle. The blonde smiled when she could get her precious teammate to almost laugh in a time like this. Personally, she made it her mission to get Weiss to smile and be happy. She was doing a good job so far and Yang grinned back before continuing.

"I'm still in the dark about this whole thing, but I'll be waiting," she squeezed her hand. "I'll wait for you."

"Thank you, Yang," the heiress breathed and squeezed her hand back. "Just… thank you."

Yang held out her arms wide. "Bring it in."

Weiss scoffed, but despite herself, she gave her teammate a hug. The two wrapped gentle arms around each other in an embrace. Weiss noticed Yang was warm, like she hadn't bathed in snow a few hours ago.

That made her feel a little less guilty.

This very moment, they felt so safe in each other's arms.

Not only that, but there was prevalent fondness as they pulled closer.

After a few moments of pleasant quietness, they slowly pulled apart.

The duo smiled and stared into each other's yearning eyes.

After that, Yang asked the question Weiss wanted to avoid.

"Are you gonna tell Blake what happened?"

The heiress tore her gaze away. She couldn't stand looking into those caring eyes with her answer.

"No."

"Why not?"

"I've never done that before and don't plan on ever doing it again," Weiss revealed.

Even though no one got killed, Weiss still felt like it was wrong. Hell, it was wrong. Especially when she used her teammate like that.

"Ohhh," the blonde replied in a teasing tone. "So I was your first, huh?"

The vampire's faced flushed from her suggestive tone and tried to dismiss the embarrassing line. "Would you shut it, brute? I don't want Blake knowing I almost _killed_ her partner."

"I'm sure her opinion of you won't change. You've been together for majority of you lives, right?"

"Well yeah, but-"

"No buts!" Yang placed a finger over her teammate's mouth, which earned a flustered expression. "Blake's an awesome person. You of all people know that. Odds are you'll make her upset if you don't tell her and that could strain your relationship. Sure, she might lecture you like any worried sister would, but she'll just be glad we're both okay in the end. You know more than anyone she's an understanding person."

After a sigh, Weiss met her gaze once more.

In her heart, she knew Yang was right. Despite her boisterous personality, sometimes the blonde carried words of wisdom.

There would be no avoiding getting a tongue lashing from the aristocrat, but this wasn't something she could hide. Blake's earlier expression of rejection was proof of that.

"You're right."

"Damn right I am," the blonde said proudly. "I'll make sure you two get some alone time on the way back to Beacon so you can explain everything to her."

"I would appreciate it."

"Good to hear," Yang beamed. "Now come on, we gotta pack and leave this place."

She held out her hand.

Weiss only stared at the gentle hand and then to her teammate's kind expression.

Little did Yang know, she'd helped Weiss with more things than she could imagine.

Accepting the gesture, Weiss stood.

"Good idea."

The two gathered their clothes and placed them in their bags. This was their chance to clean the inn before their sisters returned. Since Ruby and Blake seemed sad, hopefully coming back to a cleared room would cheer them up.

The fire's crackling filled the atmosphere.

While Weiss took her time and folded her things, Yang literally tossed her items in her bag. That irked the vampire, considering she was a tidy person, but she wasn't the one who would haul the brawler's bag around, so she wasn't going to complain.

When Weiss finished packing her things, she turned around and stared at the blonde, whose back was turned.

She was too busy packing to notice those wandering eyes.

A sudden urge overwhelmed the heiress and her body moved on its own.

When Yang's back was turned, Weiss approached her slowly and hugged her from behind. Not only that, she also nuzzled her head against Yang's comforting back, all the while not saying a word.

Of course, Yang was caught off guard from this and set down a shirt to give her the attention necessary. She happily accepted the warm embrace. It was a _very_ rare display of affection. Especially since Weiss was never one to initiate physical contact.

Yang guessed it was a silent "thank you" for everything she'd done for her teammate. She was overcome with emotion. Despite the sudden heaviness in the blonde's stomach, it fluttered at the feeling of Weiss' body against hers. Yang sunk into the warmth in her side, appreciative of the simple gesture. Her touch made the cold room warmer somehow.

They stayed like that for a while, not wanting to let go.

* * *

 **Awwww they comfort each other so much now! Such improvement from back then! *flashback to chapter 14***

 **Weiss: *sassy voice* "She's stuck with a loud snorer. Nothing could be worse. Besides being a brute and all."**

 **Yang: *raises fists* "You wanna go!?"**

 **Ruby: *sighs* "Not again…"**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	35. We're Ready

**Hope you had a dandy spring break! It's time to get back to the regular Sunday schedule. In other fantastical news, I finally took the first step to become a successful voice actress! (That only took four years -_-) Whaaa? PM me if you want to learn about that!**

* * *

After the hectic events that happened, things finally went according to plan.

Yang somehow distracted her sister and all of team JNPR in order for Weiss to tell Blake about the events the night before.

Naturally, Blake was shocked that Weiss drank Yang's blood. As far as the aristocrat knew, her sister never drank blood directly from humans. All the blood they'd been given were blood donations their mother could get her hands on when she worked in a hospital. Aside from that, their father would occasionally go out and do the dirty work, all the while trying not to kill the poor human.

For a vampire, drinking blood directly from a human was like a right of passage, although they weren't proud of it. Especially since Weiss took Yang's life fluid. But Blake was ultimately glad that both of them were okay in the end.

Of course, Blake lectured Weiss about how serious drinking Yang's blood was. If the heiress wasn't able to stop, their blonde teammate would have died. All those years of exercising great self-control finally shined last night. Weiss was just glad controlling her powerful urges proved successful.

Overall, Blake's reaction to the news was just like what Yang told Weiss it would be.

From that, Weiss felt guilty for doubting the person that had been with her majority of her life.

The journey back to Beacon was shorter because now the group knew exactly where they were going. They ran into fewer grimm and it was mostly a peaceful trek back. It had been a few hours since they boarded the airship.

Currently, teams RWBY and JNPR were walking through the academy's halls to their respective rooms.

Yang and Weiss walked side-by-side in blissful silence. Somewhere along the way, the two kept finding themselves next to each other.

Ever since that night, they shared something.

A deep secret.

Something special between them.

Even though Weiss had almost killed her teammate, Yang was extremely trusting and placed an immense amount of faith in her, somehow knowing she wouldn't suck her blood dry. Back then, the blonde was so confident her teammate wouldn't harm her. Weiss had a hard time understanding as to why she thought so.

Trust wasn't easy to come for the heiress.

The only people she trusted wholeheartedly were her family.

Until now.

Now Yang was one of those important people she allowed in her circle of trust. The blonde had seen her at her weakest state, her strongest, and everything in between.

Even though she knew partial details about the vampire secret, Yang _still_ treated Weiss the same as everyone else. The same as before. There wasn't even a hint of tension or awkwardness between the two.

Yang felt the same way. Even though the two had gotten off on the wrong foot and constantly bickered, it was no secret that the teammates would take a bullet for each other. Because of this secret, their bond undoubtedly deepened.

Weiss had never known someone could be so caring, so trusting…

So loyal.

Since the incident, she was beginning to see Yang in a different light.

She didn't know how to feel about that. Weiss was a vampire and Yang was a human.

Sometimes, she thought that species didn't matter. The blonde's smile seemed to be able to take on the world. However, their species had boundaries Weiss was hesitant to cross.

 _What am I thinking?_ Weiss scolded herself. _Remember, you almost killed her,_ she watched Yang hum a chipper tune. _You don't deserve her. Not after that._

"What's up, princess?" Yang asked. "You look like you're thinkin' about something."

"Just thinking about how much of a brute you are," the heiress airily replied. "It's nothing important."

 _Why does she have to be so kind?_

Yang seemed to buy the reply and wasn't about to press. She could tell her teammate was tired. If she was honest, she was, too. In fact, she could tell her whole team craved sleep as they dragged themselves through the halls.

"We're almost to our room," Yang stated. "You can sleep it off."

Ruby slowed her pace and walked next to her sister. "Sleep? After you slept most of the day yesterday? Are you crazy?"

It was true. After being attacked by a horde of grimm, Weiss and Yang had slept most of the day. It wasn't until several hours later did the teams leave to head back to Beacon. It was no trouble waiting for them to rest. The chief of Acacia was waiting for the arrival of the permanent hunter, anyways. When the hunter arrived, it was okay to leave.

"Hey," Yang began. "Those grimm gave us a pretty intense workout."

Blake simply scoffed, knowing it took a lot to wear out her partner. "A work out too intense for you? Sounds almost impossible."

That earned a chuckle from Yang as she used the key to open the door.

"Have a good day, guys!" they heard Jaune yell. "We'll see you in class soon."

All of team RWBY gasped and yelped in unison. "Class?!"

Pyrrha turned around to speak to them before entering her room. "Yes, we have combat class today."

"Ughhhhh," an annoyed groan sounded from Yang. "But we just got back. Anyone wanna skip?"

A soft smack upside her head.

"Ow!" the blonde weakly yelped. Judging by her tone, it didn't actually hurt. Just something she said out of reflex. "What was that for?"

Weiss scowled, angry she even mentioned the idea. "No one is skipping, brute. Come to class with us."

Ruby looked like she was debating if she should skip or not. Her fingers pressed together nervously.

The idea vanished when a nasty glare came from the heiress.

"Ehehe…" Ruby weakly offered. "Yeah, guys. No skipping!"

Glad she convinced them not to skip, the team started to get ready for class. They only had about ten minutes, so they rushed to make some final touches. Thankfully, they were already in their combat gear, so that saved a lot of time.

Before she did anything, Blake found the backup blood tablets and handed her sister some. Immediately, Weiss slipped in the bathroom and devoured two full drinks. It was true that Yang's blood provided sustenance for her vampire body, but that could only last so long. And she took so little of it. She only sipped what was necessary to keep her body functioning until they got back to Beacon. Now that they were there, they had all the blood tablets and bags necessary.

As usual, the vampire sisters dropped the blood tablets in their water bottles. After that, the team headed out, although slowly. No one was particularly excited to go, considering how tired they were.

Once they were in the classroom, team JNPR waved them over to sit next to them. They also looked worn out, except Nora, who was bouncing in her seat and mumbling.

"Pleasebemepleasebemepleasebemepleasebeme…"

"What's she goin' on about?" Yang asked Jaune.

"She really wants to fight someone from a different team," the boy sighed. "I don't know how she has this much energy."

While the teams faintly chuckled, Blake happened to catch something in the corner of her keen eye.

It was a bulky mass that entered the room and was strutting over. It was Cardin. The pureblood slowly approached the group. Cat ears flattened under her bow and her eyes narrowed.

What was he doing? Did he learn nothing from their previous encounters?

Blake just wished he'd leave them alone.

Gently, the aristocrat nudged her sister's side, which grabbed her unyielding attention. Weiss broke away from her conversation with Ruby for a moment to see what she needed.

Only to see Cardin coming to their row.

The aristocrat was perturbed and spoke lowly. "What does he want?"

Weiss glared at the boy. "Your guess is as good as mine."

Normally, Cardin sat in the back of the room. Today, however, he chose to sit in front of the teams, leaving everyone, not just Blake and Weiss, uncomfortable. They weren't just going to tell him to leave, he wasn't bothering anyone.

Except the vampire sisters.

In the past, the pureblood defeated both vampire siblings in fights. Maybe this was his way of asserting his dominance? To show them that their existence was almost nothing to him?

Either way, it sent them on edge.

Blake took a sip of her blood tablet water. It was a nervous habit she'd formed when she was anxious about something.

The two could only stare at the back of his head, wondering why he switched seats. There was nothing they could do about it and the last thing they wanted to do was to cause a scene for no apparent reason.

As if to help take their attention off the pureblood, professor Goodwitch's voice boomed through the room.

"The match will be between Jaune Arc and Emerald Sustrai!"

Jaune lowered his head. "Why me? Why not Nora?"

Nora slapped his back with a giddy grin. "You got this, captain!"

"We believe in you," Pyrrha stated. "Remember your training and you will do well."

Jaune gave her a soft smile. "Thanks, Pyr."

Both opponents headed down to the arena, neither looking too thrilled to spar with the other. Although, Jaune looked determined as ever while Emerald looked bored.

"It's the new girl," Ruby stated, her eyes scanning Emerald. "Ohmygoshohmygosh I can't wait to see her weapon!"

"Chill out Rubes," the blonde replied jokingly. "Now's not the time to fangirl over weapons."

"It's _always_ the time to geek out about weapons," Ruby leaned on the edge of her seat, anxiously waiting for the match to start.

With a wave of her riding crop, the professor yelled.

"Begin!"

Once Goodwitch gave the okay, Emerald lunged at Jaune like he was a mere doll. Her expression screamed that she just wanted to get this over with, so she was not going to hold back.

She started the fight up close, although that wasn't her typical combat style. Because she knew he wasn't the best fighter, she took her chances. That proved to be in vain when Jaune could deflect and dodge most of her nimble kicks and flailing of her green sickles.

When Jaune got the chance to gain distance between the two, she switched her sickles to guns and fired multiple sharp, green shots at him.

"Woooooow," Ruby gawked. "Those guns look so cool!"

Some green bullets whizzed passed his hair and even grazed his skin. Most however, didn't even make dents in his shield. She was surprised to see he was more skillful than she thought, which earned a scowl. The bullets that grazed his skin even began to heal and vanish.

From the sight, Pyrrha smiled broadly.

"He's improved," Yang observed.

Pyrrha only nodded.

Emerald's gunshots gave the same flare of color as her hair. While the boy focused on dodging, he steadily closed the distance between the two. Shocked, Emerald leapt back from a sudden offensive tackle. In retaliation, she expanded her weapons to swords shaped like one claw each.

The grin wouldn't wipe off Ruby's face as she stared in amazement at Emerald's fighting style. Her acrobatic ability was more impressive than most and the way she slid on the arena with her weapons at the perfect angle…

Ruby loved that style, it reminded her of how ungraceful she herself could be when she waved her giant scythe around.

After the thought, Ruby hugged her scythe that was in its compact form. "But you always get the job done," she nuzzled it. "Yeeesss. My sweetheart..."

Yang gave her a weird look before noticing Blake and Weiss' gazes directed at Ruby. Her whole team was staring at the happy leader.

"Rubes, we all know the scythe is your girlfriend," the blonde teased. "Don't show that much PDA."

"She's my baby," Ruby simply set Crescent Rose on her lap and grinned before focusing on the match.

Yang only sent her a smile and looked down at the arena.

"The winner is Ms. Sustrai!" Goodwitch's voice exclaimed.

"That was quick…" Blake mumbled. "Although interesting."

When Pyrrha noticed her partner was having trouble standing, she rushed the arena. Ren and Nora were content to stay seated. He was her partner, after all. And Jaune was already almost on his feet, so he didn't need much help.

"Jaune, Jaune are you okay?" Pyrrha worriedly asked. He didn't look too injured, but she was concerned nonetheless.

"Yeah, I'm good, don't worry, Pyr," Jaune accepted her support and glanced at his previous opponent. "That was a good fight. You're a great fighter."

Emerald said nothing and only casted him a nasty glare before she headed to her seat. Pyrrha and Jaune exchanged confused looks before shrugging and heading back to their spots.

Yang said what everyone was thinking. "What the hell's her problem?"

The blood-faunus drank more of her red liquid. "I guess some people just aren't that friendly." Her amber orbs never left Emerald, who was whispering in Mercury's ear.

"Jaune was right, though," Ruby chirped. "That was a good match."

Jaune groaned. "I got creamed."

"You may not have won, but your skills have improved immensely," Pyrrha said. "You held your ground in melee and long-ranged combat. Your agile footwork had allowed you to move faster than even her at some points. You did well."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," an unexpected voice suggested. "You will only get worse if you keep thinking like that."

Jaune took those words to heart, surprised from who they belonged to. "Thanks, Weiss," he sheepishly rubbed his head. "You guys are right."

Before the bell rang to signal the end of class, the vampire sisters got a text from Winter that read:

'We're ready.'

* * *

 **OHHHHH they're ready! For whaaaaat? Do you guys even remember? It's been a while XD**


	36. Snowbirds Must Fly

**Before this starts I'd like to say that this chapter title is also the title of a fic called Snowbirds Must Fly by CeruleanSquirrel. She's a friend of mine and her fic is** _ **really**_ **good. So if you haven't read it, you should.**

* * *

Qrow and Winter had been practicing their combination attacks for a few hours.

Even though Qrow was a professional hunter and Winter was a skilled pureblood, they needed breaks, too.

They decided to practice one more move. It was difficult, considering it required both partners' unyielding attention.

All Qrow wanted to do was relax since they'd been at this for a while, but Winter was insistent, saying that if they were going to perfect the combination, it would need to be nailed down to the last detail.

Qrow smiled at how determined she could be. It might've been slight OCD, but he concluded that Winter was just a perfectionist and wanted to do things to the best of her abilities.

It was admirable… considering all he wanted to do was drink.

"Hello?" Winter drawled, standing a few feet away from him in a combat stance. "Qrow? Are you ready?"

That's when Qrow snapped out of his stupor. He failed to realize he was staring at Winter this whole time when she was getting ready for the next pair combination.

"Yeah, my bad, ice queen," Qrow apologized, a mischievous glint now in his red eyes. "I can't stop thinking about how beautiful you are," he sent a playful wink.

Although Qrow wouldn't admit it, there was always some truth in his teasing.

And there was the reaction he loved. Heat immediately rushed to Winter's cheeks and she lowered her rapier.

"Would you stop that? It's a miracle I've survived with your merciless teasing."

"You know you can't resist this," Qrow gestured to his body, his eyebrow perked in amusement. "Admit it."

"Focus," Winter huffed, but not too harshly. She was in no mood for his jokes, especially when they had one more thing to practice. "Ready?"

Qrow held his scythe in the air after a slight sigh. "Snowbirds must fly!"

Before Winter could begin to sprint, she almost tripped up on her feet from the call. "What?"

"The attack name," Qrow informed levelly. "It fits."

Winter seemed to contemplate the name. The fact that it wasn't shot down the moment she heard it was a good sign. Maybe she would accept it?

"It's too lengthy."

Nevermind.

"What?" Qrow quipped. "Don't give me that, it's perfect!"

"How about just a hand wave, or some sort of gesture?" Winter suggested. "That way, our opponent won't see it coming."

The professional hunter weighed her words. Something like a gesture certainly would be easier to follow than blurting out an attack name.

"A whistle?" Qrow asked. "Would that be suitable for your majesty the ice queen?"

Winter gave him a disapproving look before she carefully considered it. "Very well. Can you whistle loudly?"

Qrow didn't reply and just stuck his fingers in his mouth with a wry grin. After watching her confused reaction, he blew as hard as he could.

The noise pierced the air and stung Winter's eardrums, so much so that she had to clutch her ears for them not to ring.

Satisfied with her reaction, Qrow stopped the ear-piercing screech and smirked.

"A whistle it is," Winter almost smiled.

"Glad you could see it my way for once," Qrow quipped casually, his grip tightened on his scythe.

Reading his posture, Winter got in her combat stance, crouching lower to the ground, her rapier lowered at her side.

After the whistle signal, Winter used her glyphs to shoot towards him like a rocket. While gliding across the ground, she coated her body in a thin layer of ice. Once she was closer to him, she used another glyph to hop off the ground and her heels met the end of Qrow's sharp scythe.

Qrow didn't even flinch from the extra weight that was now Winter on top of his weapon. To aid Qrow when he started to spin around, Winter conjured another glyph below his feet to make him twirl at an intense speed.

She crouched lower to the weapon, her hands clutching it. The ice around her body allowed her to not be cut. It was like a layer of protection from the sharp scythe.

Soon enough, the two spun so fast it got a little hard to breathe. That's when Qrow barely managed to look up at her.

"Ready?!"

Winter's gaze never wavered, the ice allowed her to not be affected by the intense winds.

"Ready!"

With a final spin, Qrow swung his scythe towards the end of the glistening white training room.

Winter took that as her cue to angle her heels carefully as she launched off the tip of his weapon. From the intense pressure, Qrow's feet dented the marble-covered floor.

She glided just above the ground. The ice that covered her body weighed her down a little. She was impressed with Qrow's strength when she soared across the entire training room, which was about the length of a football field.

Winter brought her rapier up like she would attack someone and hardened the ice on her arms. Since she was met with air, and no target, she simply flipped elegantly and landed sideways on the wall.

Surprisingly, no dent formed from the harsh impact, leaving Qrow to wonder just how skilled she was.

"Nice landing," Qrow praised after watching Winter dust herself off. He noticed she was a little worn out from using a lot of her zehn. Sweat clung to her skin and she was starting to breathe raggedly. "Can we take a break now?"

"One more-"

"No," Qrow shut that thought down. Winter would go overboard with training sometimes and he was there to make sure she wouldn't over-do it. "We're taking a break."

From his tone, Winter could tell there was no point in arguing with him. She usually came on top when the two bickered, but she could tell he cared for her well-being and didn't want to worry him.

"Very well."

"That's what I like to hear."

Winter slightly pouted, her poker face failed her. That was something Qrow was proud to accomplish, especially since he didn't have to tease her.

* * *

For their break, Qrow suggested they watch a movie. At first, Winter didn't want to, saying she had to fill out some paperwork for the company.

However, Qrow was insistent, saying that just taking a shower didn't count as a break.

After practicing, the two cleaned up so the sweat didn't cling to their skin.

Currently, Qrow somehow managed to make Winter sit down and relax for once. The two were in the common area living room on the large couch with a T.V. in front of them.

The pureblood couple had left for the vacation a while ago, so right now the two were alone in the vast castle. It was kind of lonely, but the two were never alone and always had each other.

Since Winter had taken a shower, she didn't bother putting her hair up in its usual bun. This allowed her snowy tresses to be a waterfall of pure white. Her hair wasn't normally worn down, but when it was, Qrow found himself entranced by it. Instead of watching the movie, he found himself stealing glimpses of the woman next to him.

 _Winter's gorgeous…_ Qrow couldn't help but think. _That bun she normally has makes her look so uptight, but with her hair down she's… she's stunning… like she's not a pain in the ass sometimes._

When he pretended to watch the movie, the scent of lavender filled his nostrils. It was such a pleasant aroma, one that Winter emitted.

Even though the couch was large, they sat right next to each other and for some reason he felt nervous.

To ease his nerves, he pulled out the flask from his pocket and casually took a swig. Little did he know, Winter gave him a disappointed look when she knew what he was drinking.

"Qrow, put it away," she said in an almost harsh tone. "If you keep drinking as much as you do, it will negatively affect your health."

Sensing she was more concerned than anything, he set the flask on the table.

"Hm?" he hummed, egging her on. "Is the ice queen worried? For me?"

Winter timidly looked away, her voice now tinged with sadness and concern. "I'm just stating the facts…" she trailed off, not at all affected by his teasing tone.

Sensing she was genuinely worried for his wellbeing, he sighed heavily and stared at the flask, and then to her, making an internal decision.

After that, he stood and stretched his arms above his head. It didn't take long for his wandering red eyes to find her form again, which was still filled to the brim with concern.

"I'm getting tired of this place," Qrow broke the silence. "Let's go out."

That snapped Winter out of her stupor. "What?" she looked at him like he was crazy for suggesting such a thing.

"Blake and Weiss did. Hell, they left for Beacon. I don't see why we shouldn't stroll around town for a little bit."

Winter crossed her arms in defiance. "No, I don't think so. I still need to finish the paperwork and afterwards there's-"

She didn't even finish her sentence when Qrow grabbed her forearm and dragged her off the sofa, but not forcefully.

"Yep, out of everyone in Remnant, you need a break the most."

Ever since the purebloods left for a vacation, Winter was constantly cooped up in her study room. It was painful for Qrow to watch, especially since she was in her prime and should be focusing on other things instead of work.

Qrow pitied her for having to stay at home all the time. In the end, he was just glad to be with her to relieve any loneliness she would feel if he wasn't around.

Winter would never admit it, but she was fond of his company. Whenever he was around, there was never a boring moment. Sometimes, he even managed to make filling out paperwork entertaining.

Qrow wouldn't take 'no' for an answer and almost literally dragged her out of the castle. At first, she tried to struggle out of his grip, but it was for naught so she trotted along, making sure he was well-aware she'd rather be in her study.

But she knew she was lying to herself.

* * *

A few hours later, all the pureblood and bodyguard did was walk around town.

Northern Vale was bustling with people. Both humans and faunus were just living out their everyday lives in the busy town. Joining them, were Qrow and Winter.

This time, Winter wore her hair down mainly to fight off the cold. She never really got too cold, but her white waterfall was like a layer of protection from the chilly breeze. Qrow wore his typical outfit, his cape fluttering in the wind every now and then. His body was naturally warm, so he didn't need to worry about things like a simple breeze.

Qrow was surprised he could drag her out of the castle without much of a fight. So far they enjoyed themselves.

The castle was located in northern Vale, so it was a little chilly outside. Since the Schnee family had an affinity for ice, it was difficult for them to actually get cold, but they always _felt_ cold.

Qrow caught something in the corner of his vision, something Winter had failed to see.

If Winter saw the establishment, Qrow was sure she would have wanted to check out the place. Knowing his assumption was right, he grabbed her hand swiftly to lead her to the building. However, he instantly recoiled when he made contact.

Winter's hand was freezing, so much so that it sent shivers up Qrow's spine. He wouldn't call it an unpleasant feeling, it was just unexpected.

"The ice queen has lived up to her name," Qrow chuckled.

"Why did you grab my hand?" Winter questioned, trying to stop herself from stammering. "And why must you always call me that?"

"What else would I call you?" Qrow asked. He seemed completely baffled by calling her anything else, something that made Winter's eye twitch.

"My actual name?" Winter suggested levelly.

"Where's the fun in that?" Qrow said like it was obvious he loved teasing her.

Winter just playfully rolled her eyes and then she felt his hand grab hers again.

"This way."

She didn't particularly like the nickname he bestowed upon her, but she supposed it was okay. No one else had ever called her 'ice queen.' No one ever had the guts to. And yet, the first day Qrow and Winter met, he dismissed the idea of calling her by her name, dismissed her status as a rare pureblood and didn't call her 'my lady,' and dubbed her 'ice queen.'

It was an interesting way to address her and she had grown used to it. She just wondered if he would ever call her by her real name.

Did he even know her real name?

Knowing Qrow, it was entirely possible.

Winter reluctantly allowed the contact and let him lead her into a building that was foreign to her.

The hunter held out his arms to gesture all around him. "A bakery!"

It was a humble bakery, like the one closer to Beacon. It was a welcoming establishment and only had a few people in their seats while eating various types of bread.

The scent was pleasant, and now Winter wanted to eat some food. She'd been drinking blood for the last several weeks and had been wanting to mix her diet.

Besides, bread and soup were the only things vampires could eat besides blood, so why not?

"You want some?"

Winter glanced at Qrow, who had a grin. A nod was all he needed to go to the cash register.

"Tell me what you want," the hunter said as he pulled out his wallet.

At the sight of his wallet, Winter quickly replied. "I won't let you pay for me," her tone was stern like there was no changing her mind.

"Fine," he said, a mischievous glint in his red eyes as he slowly slid the wallet back in his pocket. "Then just tell me what you want."

Thinking he gave up, she looked at the menu above the register and made her decision. She absentmindedly told him and reached for her own money in her purse.

However, she failed to notice Qrow had handed the cashier money before she could even touch her currency.

"Qrow!" she chided. "You know I can afford something like this."

"Would you look at that?" Qrow grinned smugly, already grabbing his change from the order. "Too late."

"Why you…"

"Just let me be a gentleman," the hunter replied with a wink. "I wanted to pay and I did exactly that," from his reply, she frowned and he went on. "Are you going to keep scowling like that or do you want to enjoy this nice bread?" he held out the treat.

After a sigh, Winter hesitantly grabbed the food. It was nice and warm compared to her cold hands.

"Thank you."

From her reply, Qrow smiled genuinely. Not the typical smug grin he normally adorned. Winter thought it was nice to see him so sincere.

"No problem. Come on, let's grab a seat."

The two retreated to the corner of the bakery with their snacks in hand at a table for two. Even though Qrow didn't like bread particularly, he somewhat enjoyed the snack he picked out. They traded casual conversation in between nibbles every now and then.

He could tell something was bothering Winter. He was about to question her, but she decided to speak up.

"What's your plan?"

"Huh?" Qrow asked, not understanding what she was referring to.

"The plan to tell Weiss and Blake's teammates about vampires," Winter replied in a whisper, baffled that he forgot about something so important. "Yang found out about our existence. I can't believe you forgot something so urgent."

"Oh, that," Qrow said, amusement in his tone. "Trust me, it's nothing to worry about."

"Why's that?" Winter was beginning to grow irritated. This was an important matter and Qrow was treating it as anything but.

"In short…" Qrow prepared himself for the revelation. "Ruby and Yang are my nieces."

Winter almost spit out the water she was drinking. She choked on it and she pounded her chest to breathe properly again.

"Excuse me?!"

"You heard me. As you know, Weiss and Blake are my kiddos," Qrow easily replied, liking her reaction. "But so are their teammates Yang and Ruby."

Winter still couldn't believe it. "What?!"

"Woah, that's a better reaction than I expected," Qrow chuckled in mirth. It was obvious he had been waiting for this day to come for a long time. He could only grin knowingly, waiting for her to compose herself.

"You knew them this whole time!?" Winter was exasperated. Now that she thought about it, she didn't know much about the huntsman's family life.

"Yep."

"Do you know how frantic I was when Weiss told us the news that Yang found out?"

"Uh-huh."

The huntsman just wanted to see how she'd handle the situation. Back then, it took hours of wondering what to do and him constantly reassuring her everything would be alright. Only then had she allowed herself to finally calmed down.

A little.

It all made sense to Winter. "That's why you don't care so much."

"Bingo," Qrow replied. "Yang and Ruby can be trusted. Even though Yang's the biggest extrovert you'll ever meet and Ruby is a troublemaker, they're dependable."

"I bet you think you're so sly. Keeping that a secret this whole time..." Winter mumbled.

She felt a little betrayed, but as she stared at his arrogant grin, she felt at ease. The deception she felt withered away. She couldn't stay mad at him, someone who had been by her side constantly. Something told her she could trust his nieces.

Why was she so surprised Qrow knows the whole team?

The man was full of surprises as far as she knew.

She should have expected as much.

"I'm so sneaky," Qrow said in a teasing manner.

"Do you know how much easier this would have been if you just told me?" Winter quipped, setting the bread aside. After that revelation, she lost her appetite.

"Where's the fun in that?" Qrow asked. "Watching your reaction was entertaining."

"Entertaining…" Winter muttered, not liking what he said. "Is that all I do for you? Entertain you?"

Qrow had to admit, her reactions to… life... were actually pretty entertaining. He supposed he worded that wrong and felt guilty.

"I was going to tell you sooner or later, it was just a matter of when," Qrow informed. "Since I know the whole team, this will be easy."

"So I'm assuming your plan was to just tell them?"

"Yep."

"I can't believe this…" Winter murmured.

Maybe she could. This is the kind of bullshit Qrow would pull.

After watching him give her his signature smirk again, she sighed.

"Nevermind. I can."

* * *

 **The attack move coincidentally fit the title and again, go read CeruleanSquirrel's fic!**

 **I know** **both** **Ruby and Yang aren't Qrow's nieces, but he said, "In short." There's no need to explain tedious details that don't matter.** **It's about time Winter found out! She's not too mad at Qrow, just a little frustrated.**

 **They're finally ready.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	37. Leaked

**HAPPY EASTER! Have a dandy day!**

* * *

The younger vampire sisters repeatedly asked Winter if it was okay for the whole team to be present for the life-changing video call. Winter kept adamantly stating that it was fine. In fact, Ruby and Yang needed to be in the room.

The plan to tell Ruby and Yang about the vampire race's existence had been discussed.

To prepare themselves, Winter and Qrow were in the office getting ready for the paramount video call. Naturally, this would change Ruby and Yang's perspectives on the world, so everyone involved was handling the situation with the utmost care.

After everything Winter learned from Qrow, she remained composed as usual. She placed her hands on the mahogany table like she was in an important meeting. Then, she faced the webcam with a microscopic scowl.

"I can't believe you never told me about Ruby and Yang," the pureblood crossed her legs with a sigh. "Things would have been much easier."

Qrow gave her an amused chuckle. "I thought it'd be interesting and trust me, it was."

Seeing his cocky grin in the computer's reflection made Winter's eye twitch. She spun around in the chair to properly face him and her tone lowered. "Do you know what else would be interesting?"

"You out of those clothes?" he replied instantly.

There's the reaction he was hoping for. He loved watching her get flustered and seeing her face flush. Pale white cheeks quickly tinted to a rosy red, all her composure lost.

"Y-y-you're such a pervert!"

"A handsome pervert," Qrow corrected.

"You are so troublesome. You're lucky I tolerate you."

There was a pregnant pause before Winter began again.

"You're absolutely sure this will work?"

The huntsman proudly pointed to himself. "Have I ever steered you wrong?"

Winter gave him a look.

"Don't answer that," he replied. "Now, are you going to call them or what?"

After a playful roll of her eyes, Winter spun back around to face the monitor. After making a few adjustments, she turned on the webcam before pressing the 'call' button. "What am I going to do with you?" she whispered mostly to herself.

From that, Qrow grinned and made sure he was hidden, out of the camera's view.

* * *

Pure adrenaline spiked in Blake and Weiss' systems.

The day had come.

It was only a matter of seconds until their teammates would discover the truth.

They were vampires.

Beads of sweat rolled down their faces as they sat on the carpet in anticipation. Winter gave them a heads up that she'd call them soon, so now they were making some mental preparations.

Based on the vampire siblings' reactions, Yang was excited. She knew all too well of what was about to transpire. She just hoped Ruby would take the news well.

Of course, Weiss and Blake were the most concerned for the upcoming revelation.

What if their teammates saw them as monsters? No, that was ridiculous. Yang already partially knows and she still treats the siblings the same. Like they were normal humans. Hell, maybe even better. As far as Weiss knew, her and Yang very good friends. She'd go as far to say that they're best friends. The same went for Blake. Yang was always a good partner to her.

But what about Ruby?

She doesn't know anything about this.

As far as the three teammates knew, the news would slap Ruby in the face. And not a gentle slap.

A bitch slap.

Despite that, for some reason, Weiss and Blake felt oddly at ease.

They just couldn't imagine their leader being disgusted by them. No matter how much of a shock the news may be. From day one, Ruby had always been the overly optimistic, take-charge, and understanding leader.

It was true Yang was concerned, but she was also thrilled. She wasn't going to be left in the dark for much longer. She was worried about what Ruby would think but she knew her sister was an accepting person.

Whatever they would find out, they would find out together.

Any more confusion would be cleared.

The team was in their room waiting for the long-awaited call, which didn't take long.

Weiss' scroll vibrated, which caused the team to lean in with anticipation.

"She's calling!"

Everyone in the room gathered around the camera and sat on the floor. This way, it was easier for all four team members to be seen on the webcam. When everyone was in the shot, Weiss answered the call.

"Hello, Winter," Weiss greeted.

"Hi," Blake simply said.

Ruby gave her a cheeky wave. "Hi again!"

Winter's gaze went from the left to the right, cautiously scanning all four members. Her eyes were full of familiarity until they landed on the last team member.

This was the first time she has met and talked with the whole team the same sitting. She was curious to see their dynamic and more interested in how Ruby and Yang would react to the information they were about to receive. But formalities came first, no matter how urgent the situation.

"Hello, Ruby, Weiss, Blake… Yang?"

Instead of introducing herself, Yang's jaw dropped. Her mouth was having trouble forming words and her eyes were wide.

That's right… she never met or saw Winter before this.

Yang kept pointing back and forth from Weiss to Winter in utter shock. She still had trouble forming words. It was obvious what she was thinking.

Weiss playfully slapped her finger away. "We don't look _that_ alike."

"Are you kidding me?!" Yang yelped and flailed her arms in emphasis. "You could be twins!" she examined Winter and Weiss more. "Besides the chest," she nodded to herself reassuringly. "And the fact that you're a midge-"

The heiress proceeded to smack Yang upside the head. "Quiet, brute!"

Yang gingerly rubbed the spot her teammate hit. "Ow…"

"I see where the ice queen gets it from," a deep voice chimed from off camera.

Instantly, Yang and Ruby perked up from the voice.

It was _definitely_ familiar.

Their attention was completely stolen. Now Ruby and Yang didn't care much for anything else. All they could think about was that voice.

From the comment, Winter rolled her eyes in annoyance. Once everything settled down, she looked somewhere off camera.

"You can show yourself now."

The man stepped toward the camera to get in the team's view.

The black hair, red eyes, and necklace instantly registered in Ruby and Yang's minds.

This time, Yang's jaw dropped to the floor and she couldn't stop pointing at the man. Her mouth once again failed to form words. "AhHhhHhHh!"

The bodyguard laughed. "I don't think I'm that terrifying," he sarcastically remarked.

"What's wrong, Yang?" Blake asked, worried for her teammate. "Do you know Qrow?"

When Blake said his name out loud, Ruby snatched Weiss' phone and held it up to her face. The camera made her nose look large, which caused the hunter to laugh again.

"Uncle Qrow?!" Ruby exclaimed, her voice unbelieving. "What the heck are you doing there?!"

"UNCLE?!" Weiss and Blake shouted in unison.

"Uh-oh," Qrow easily said. "I've been found out."

Weiss pointed to Ruby and Yang. "He's your uncle?!"

"Yeah," Qrow confirmed. "Sorry I never told you guys," he sent a wink.

"Bull," Winter scowled at the man. "Telling everyone would have made things much easier."

"You knew!?" Blake explained and pointed at her elder sister.

"Not for long," Winter replied. "If I'd known, you would have known."

The blood-faunus could only whip her head back and forth from Ruby, Yang, and Qrow. This would certainly take some time to process. The somewhat irritating bodyguard that suddenly popped into her life was connected to the rest of her team?

Now that she thought about it…

Qrow acted a lot like her partner. Amber eyes could only stare at his smug grin.

"Uncle Qrow, does this mean…" Ruby stared at Winter and then to him, her face took up the entire camera. "Winter is your cool mission?!"

Winter pointed to herself confusedly. "I'm your cool mission?"

"Holy crap!" Yang ran up to the camera and pushed Ruby to the side, which elicited a tiny yelp. "You really aren't some chick he met in a bar!"

There was no way she could be. Winter seemed like she wasn't the type of a person to even _think_ about a bar. Seeing her dressed so professionally and having really good posture with a stern expression made Yang think she really was Weiss' sister.

"Qrow," Winter almost seethed. "What are they talking about?"

"Before I left Signal, I told them I was going on a secret mission. Naturally, I couldn't tell them the details, so I made it short and sweet," Qrow jokingly slapped Winter's back as he faced Ruby and Yang. "I'm her bodyguard."

"Winter, is it true?!" Ruby exclaimed.

Winter didn't look pleased from when he slapped her on the back, but quickly brushed it off. "Yes, well… it is true."

"That's so cool!" Ruby exclaimed.

Ruby and Yang could only stare at the unlikely pair. The bodyguard's palm was still placed on Winter's back. Neither of them seemed adverse to the contact, although the pureblood didn't look too pleased after the slap.

Ruby was starting to think she was right about her uncle possibly liking the elder sister.

"On to the business," Qrow's voice snapped them out of their thoughts.

"What was it you needed to tell us?" Yang asked.

From the question, Blake and Weiss tensed up again. Winter sensed their obvious distress and trusted Qrow to handle the situation.

Qrow looked at Ruby and Yang dead in the eyes. "Long story short, Yang, Ruby, vampires are real. Your teammates Weiss and Blake are vampires, and so's this one," he pointed to Winter.

Dead silence.

" _That's_ how you told them?!" Winter exclaimed, which caused everyone to lean back. Watching the pureblood have an outburst was new. "Out of all the things you could have said, you said _that_?! You are too laid-back for your own good! I swear-"

"Way to jump the gun…" Blake mumbled.

As Winter continued her rant, Weiss and Blake could only watch the other pair of siblings' reactions.

Ruby didn't look too surprised as she stared at Weiss and Blake. "Huh… okay."

From Ruby's reply, Winter shut her mouth. All eyes were on the leader.

The younger vampire sisters were expecting her to be accepting, but not this easily. Qrow on the other hand wasn't surprised at all from her reaction.

"'Okay?'" Blake quoted, perplexed by her words. "You find out vampires exist and all you say is 'okay?!'"

"To be honest," Ruby pressed her two fingers together nervously. "I-I was suspicious for a while, but didn't know for sure. This confirms it."

"What do you mean you were suspicious?" Weiss questioned. "We were careful so you wouldn't find out."

"Remember at the beginning of the year when you got detention?" Ruby recalled.

Weiss glared at the blonde. "You mean when _she_ got me detention."

"Eheheh… my bad," Yang muttered.

"Yeah," Ruby nodded. "I heard you say red tea was in the bottle you were drinking and uh… I kinda… took a sip from it when Blake wasn't looking..."

The vampire sister's eyes widened and gasps rang out in unison.

"What?!" Weiss blurted. "Gross!"

"Yeah…" Ruby trailed off and cringed from the memory. "That wasn't tea."

The vampires could only stare at the nervous leader in utter shock.

"B-but after I found out I didn't want to jump to conclusions!" Ruby hastily explained. "I figured for something like that you had to tell me on your own terms, so I waited. Ehehe, I'm glad I did!" she finished with a cheeky grin.

Qrow bursted into laughter. "You're as curious as always."

Yang could only mumble. "It's plot twist after plot twist today…"

Ruby faintly giggled. "Besides the weird tasting watery blood, do you have proof? I mean, I believe you guys, it's just-"

Winter, Weiss, and Blake revealed their fangs to Ruby at the same time. In unison, the actions caused an odd ripping sound to ring out. All three vampire's fangs were on display, but Ruby found herself staring only at Blake's sharp teeth in utter awe. She didn't think it was possible for Blake to be even cuter, but she liked to be proven wrong.

"So cute…" Ruby let the phrase slip.

Of course, Blake heard the comment in the quiet room and her cheeks flushed. Her leader's hands quickly covered her mouth from the mistake.

"I-I meant wooooooow," the leader gawked. "You look so cool!"

Yang playfully rolled her eyes. "Nice save, sis," meaning anything but.

However, Ruby wasn't the only one staring at the entrancing sight. The blonde and Qrow stared as well, seemingly mesmerized by the sight. Even though Qrow had seen Winter's fangs a million times, it never got old. There was a certain sparkle to them he found captivating.

"Now that you know vampires are real," Qrow started. "You need to learn a few things."

Ruby and Yang listened to the entirety of the lecture. He and Winter switched off, going through the basics like a vampire's diet, how long they can go without blood, zehn, the pureblood power, and a little of Qrow and Blake's backgrounds.

The blood-faunus told them the reason she was part of the family at first was to be Weiss' bodyguard. She also informed the two that she could teleport herself, or one person, but wasn't able to do both at the same time by using zehn. The vampiric ability was also limited to touch. If she wasn't touching the thing or person she wanted to teleport, she couldn't use the ability.

Then Winter talked about the duties of the pureblood Schnee family like carrying on the bloodline. The multiple attempts on their lives, and the fateful encounter Weiss and Blake had with a pair of troublesome sisters that prompted them to join Beacon.

"Woah," the blonde breathed. "That… that's a lot."

"Yeah," Ruby chirped. "And that was a good story," she smiled, happy she learned more about Blake.

"Do you understand, kiddos?" Qrow leaned in, serious tone present. "No tellin' people vampires exist. They'll come after you. Especially this one," he pointed to Winter. "She's feisty."

"Hey!" Winter yelped.

"We get it, Qrow," Yang assured. "We won't tell anyone."

Ruby swung her arms around her teammates. "We're a team! And teams need to have trust in each other, right?"

Winter nodded. "Exactly," she looked to her siblings. "Aren't you glad? Now you don't have to sneak around or hide anything from them."

After hiding for so long, the vampire sisters found it hard to fathom a normal life. This didn't make them normal by any means, but on the team, it did. They would still be hiding their existence, just not from their team.

The vampire sisters recalled how many times they were almost caught drinking blood. How many times their adrenaline pumped because of almost being found out by their teammates or other humans.

It was in that moment that both Blake and Weiss felt fully accepted on their team.

Weiss sighed in relief. "It will be quite nice…"

Giddy laughter filled the room.

That was an understatement.

* * *

Mercury laid on the ground in boredom. "They were tense when Cardin sat in front of them."

"That's strange…" Cinder trailed off. "Why would they be threatened by another student?"

"Especially when one of them is a pureblood," Mercury added, suspicion in his tone. "They shouldn't be anxious around anyone."

A familiar voice lingered in the room that came from a speaker.

"It will be quite nice…"

"Good job planting the bug in their room," Mercury slyly said. "Now we know for sure."

"It was too easy," Emerald scoffed.

Cinder gracefully placed her shoes on the carpet and headed to the door. "This confirms it. There's no point in waiting."

"Are we moving out?" Emerald asked her superior.

"Yes," Cinder's natural, yellow eyes suddenly erupted into flames. "Get ready for the next step."

"What's the plan?" Mercury asked in curiosity.

He knew there was a chance his boss wouldn't tell him, but he was genuinely interested.

Cinder completely ignored her subordinate's question as she darkly chuckled, taking a vow mainly to satisfy herself.

"Someday we will bring them down."

* * *

 **Emerald, Emerald, you sly dog.**

 **Cinder's quote at the end: "Someday we will bring them down" is from the Let Me Hear song by AmaLee. The actual song lyrics are: "But maybe an animal watching us now, takes a vow, 'someday we will bring them down.'"**

 **Ruby wasn't mad when she found out their secret, why? I've tried hard to uplay her 'understanding' personality until this point, so now it really shines. My B the revelation wasn't climactic, it was never planned to be dramatic.**

 **There you have it! No more vampire secrets on the team! It's about time :D**

 **IMPORTANT: I am going out of the country for a while! Then, I need to focus on finals, so next chapter, called 'Cool Moms', will be released May 14th.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	38. Cool Moms

**Happy mother's day! Funnily enough, this chapter was already titled Cool Moms before I knew it'd be posted today xD. That's really amusing to me.**

 **Anywho,** **I'm back after a short hiatus! Hopefully there will be a chapter out next week, but it depends. I'm moving to Cali for the summer in less than a week for voice acting classes, so we'll see! Sorry about the irregular posting. I hate it as much as you do, but I'll be free very soon after things settle down and after I move in. Then it will be back to the regular weekly schedule.**

 **Side note: I'm also working on another story this summer. Let Me Hear was finished last summer, so I'm hoping this next project will be even better. More than likely, it will be released when summer ends. The story is called Time To Make History. Watch out for it! :D**

* * *

Presently, Ruby and Yang were in their dorm room still processing what they were told.

Before the critical lecture, Yang already knew Weiss was a vampire and pieced the information together, but she didn't know everything. Until this point, she was suspicious Blake was a vampire, but had no proof.

Ruby on the other hand somehow managed to take a sip of the 'red tea' Blake and Weiss always had by their side. She'd been suspicious of the sisters for a while, but had no proof just like her sister. Getting used to the idea of vampires on her team would take a little time, but she was overall accepting of her teammates.

However, the most shocking news wasn't that their teammates were vampires.

It was what truly blindsided the whole team.

Qrow.

Not only did he know everything about the vampire race's unknown existence, he was also linked to the Schnee sisters the entire time.

He was their red string of fate that connected their two very different worlds.

The more Yang and Ruby thought about it, the more it made sense. It was true Qrow was secretive about his missions, but the bodyguard role suited him. He also seemed happier whenever he called the two sets of sisters.

His kiddos.

After the video call ended, Winter insisted the younger vampire sisters tell their pureblood parents the news. The eldest stated that it would be easier to tell them, rather than putting it off or avoiding the situation.

Which leaves Weiss and Blake here, getting ready to video call their parents. Meanwhile, Ruby and Yang were to the side and out of the camera's shot. The vampire sisters weren't quite sure what their parents' reactions would be now that humans knew their secret, so they had them be quiet and out of sight in case.

It only took a few rings as the vampire sisters waited anxiously. Before they could get too nervous, their father answered the phone. Once his face was displayed, he was smiling and happy to see his daughters.

Normally, if his daughters called, that meant they either needed something from him or something urgent came up. Video calls were never to just 'talk.' They always had a purpose.

Wanting to get to the bottom of it, Mr. Schnee cleared his throat. "Weiss, Blake. What's wrong? Do you need something?"

The vampire sisters shared nervous glances before Blake spoke. "Can't we call you every now and then to say hi?"

Now the man looked guilty. "Of course! It's just unexpected is all. How's Beacon?"

"It's goo-"

Before Weiss could answer, someone pushed Mr. Schnee to the side. "Forget that!" the feminine voice waved off. "Have you met anyone? Anyone _special?_ "

"Mom!" Weiss almost chided. "We don't have time for that nonsense."

From the comment, Yang lowered her head. She didn't know why, but she felt a deep sinking feeling in her stomach. It swirled around in a flurry of emotions. Not wanting to acknowledge the strange sensation, she focused on the family's dynamic.

"I was kidding! Kidding!" the woman replied. When the vampire siblings let down their guard, she asked. "You sure?"

"Yes!" Blake blurted.

Mrs. Schnee's laugh was filled with mirth. "Okay, no need to get so defensive, dear," she sent a suggestive wink.

Not wanting to be the target of her teasing any longer, Blake got down to business and needed to get this off her chest as soon as possible. "There's something you need to know. Is dad still there?"

From the shift in tone, both parents were now in full view, giving their full attention to their daughters.

"What is it, B?" their father asked. "Is something wrong?"

Blake took a deep breath. "Long story short," she gulped and glanced at Weiss, who squeezed her hand for support. "A couple of humans know of our _vampirely_ existence."

Mr. Schnee's facial expression never changed. The sisters couldn't tell if that was a good or a bad thing. Even their mother didn't say anything. The purebloods just stared at their daughters, deep in thought.

After a few seconds of agonizing silence, Mr. Schnee spoke in a somewhat irritated voice.

"That's _still_ not a word, you know."

The vampire siblings' jaws dropped as they stole glances at each other. Their pureblood parents just found out the news and _this_ was his reaction? To criticize Blake's grammar?

Ruby and Yang could only stare at the parents and then to their teammates. They seemed just as surprised as they were.

Weiss was almost speechless. "You're not mad?" she asked somewhat hopefully. She wanted to avoid a lecture, but this was still an important matter to be dealt with, so if her parents were mad, she'd understand.

Out of nowhere, their mother pulled out a piece of warm bread and casually took a bite. It was like she kept it in her pocket in case a sudden craving struck her. This caused the vampire siblings to stare even harder.

After the female pureblood swallowed a delectable bite, she asked. "Are these humans you're talking about your teammates?"

Blake and Weiss nodded slowly.

"It was bound to happen sooner or later," their father sounded more annoyed than mad. "Just don't blow your cover to anyone else," his tone lowered seriously as he leaned into the camera. "Got it?"

Weiss and Blake's eyes widened from his sudden solemn voice and were about to reply, but his wife slightly pushed him away again.

"Wilford!" she scolded. "I'm sure our sweethearts didn't mean to get caught, right girls?"

"Right…" Blake trailed off.

Of course they didn't mean to get caught. It's not like it was on purpose!

Yang whispered in Ruby's ear. "Their mom is so understanding."

Ruby just nodded as they watched the family dynamics. The two were obviously entranced by the pureblood parents' and daughters' was a good thing they didn't seem mad, otherwise, Yang and Ruby wouldn't know what to do if royally pissed off purebloods came after them.

If the pureblood parents were as strong as Qrow and them made them out to be, Yang and Ruby wanted to be on their good side.

"Sorry, Wilhelmina," her husband apologized, his voice sincere. "But they need to know, if this secret gets in the wrong hands, we'll have to move again and never come back. Do you want that?"

Blake and Weiss were saddened and remembered all the other times they had to move because of many factors, including carelessness.

"Of course not," Weiss chimed and gazed behind her at the other pair of sisters for a brief moment, then turned back around. "I have a good feeling about this."

"We can trust them," the blood-faunus stated firmly.

Yang and Ruby smiled at their teammates, glad the vampire sisters could trust humans with such a sensitive secret.

Wilhelmina smiled and wrapped her husband in a hug. "It's okay, we've met their teammates," she said to calm his nerves. "Even though it was only briefly, we can easily tell they're good people. You know how good I am with sensing this kind of thing."

Wilford took comfort in that fact and hugged her back, a faint smile present. "You're right."

Watching the parents hug caused the vampire sisters hearts to feel warm. After being married for so long, they still had a strong spark. Meanwhile, Ruby and Yang were trying not to gag from the little display of affection.

"Of course I'm right," Mrs. Schnee said knowingly. "Now, are your teammates with you?"

Yang and Ruby took that as their cue to get in view of the camera. The two hopped off the bed and waved at them with wide grins.

"Thought so," Wilhelmina said. "They were here the whole time, huh?"

"Yep!" Yang happily answered. "Hey again mama and papa Schnee! We promise we won't tell anyone."

Ruby nodded. "And if we do, you have our permission to come after us!"

"Our?!" Yang yelped, not liking the idea of vampires killing her to keep her mouth shut.

Wilhelmina and Wilford laughed in mirth.

"Don't mess this up," the male pureblood ordered. "If you tell a soul, we'll know about it. And there will be consequences."

His wife didn't look too happy from his comment, but allowed him to threaten them once. It was a dire situation, after all.

"R-right!" Ruby mocked a salute. "You have our word we'll keep our mouths shut about vampires forever."

"Good to hear," he pointed to Ruby and Yang. "Because I know where you live."

Before Wilhelmina could give him a scolding, Weiss chimed in. "That's enough, father," she said in annoyance and looked to the other pair of sisters. "Do not worry, he won't do anything."

"Let's hope not…" the blonde muttered.

"Is that what you wanted to talk about?" Wilhelmina asked.

"Yes," Blake confirmed. "We didn't want you not knowing about the situation, so Winter told us to call you."

"Oh!" their mom exclaimed. "It's good that she knows. I was just about to ask you that."

"There you go," Weiss replied.

"So there was an important reason for this call…" Wilford almost pouted. "You really didn't want to _just_ _talk_. Such liars."

"We had to tell you sooner or later," the heiress pointed out. "It might as well be now."

"You made me feel guilty about it, too!" Wilford almost whined. "That's not fair!"

His wife teasingly patted his shoulder. "Life isn't fair, honey."

After a teasing sigh, Wilford asked. "Is there anything else you need?"

The aristocrat gazed at all her teammates and smiled. "I think we're good for now."

"Good," the female pureblood waved. "Keep your father and I updated! We love you."

The vampire sisters said "I love you," in unison. Before Wilhelmina ended the video call, Yang and Ruby noticed what the male pureblood was doing, which slightly alarmed them.

Wilford was pointing to his eyes and then to their eyes, mouthing, "I'm watching you."

The team then watched Wilhelmina slap his fingers away.

Finally, Weiss hung up and set her phone down so they could process the events. Before anyone had the chance to, Yang heaved a sigh.

"I don't think your dad likes us."

"He's just teasing," the aristocrat waved off. "He gets really protective of his family."

"How cuuuute," Ruby cooed. "He's so worried."

"This is our existence at stake, Ruby," Weiss reminded in a stern tone. "He doesn't know you two very well, so he's probably really anxious right now."

"Papa Schnee has nothin' to worry about," Yang grinned and stood, then teasingly slapped Weiss on the back in an attempt to lift her spirits.

Instead, the heiress recoiled from the slap and stood as well, then smacked Yang upside the head. "Don't do that, brute!"

"Excuuuuse me for tryin' to cheer you up!"

"Who on Remnant cheers a person up by slapping them?!"

"You should know by now that I'm a fan of physical contact!"

"Why must you word it like that?!"

While the two bickered, Blake noticed Ruby was being uncharacteristically silent. Her leader seemed deep in thought and maybe even slightly troubled. Wanting to know what was wrong, the aristocrat walked over to her.

"What's wrong, Ruby?"

"You have good parents," Ruby stated as a fact. "Your mom is pretty funny."

That comment made Blake recall when Ruby told her that her mom died. It was then that Blake realized Ruby felt some sort of connection with Wilhelmina.

"She's pretty cool, I guess," the blood-faunus could only agree.

The leader didn't respond, weighing her teammate's words. Suddenly, there were gentle and soft fingers running through her short hair, and that caught Ruby off guard. Her face flushed as red as her cape as she gazed up at the blood-faunus.

"B-Blake?"

Blake gave her a shy smile. Caring golden eyes scoured Ruby's flustered form as her gentle fingers brushed her leader's bangs. "I bet your mom and my birth mom were pretty cool, too."

Ruby just enjoyed the rare, yet soothing contact. "They definitely were."

After the comment, the two noticed the room was no longer filled with their teammate's arguing. Blake immediately pulled her fingers away and turned around to see an amused Weiss and Yang.

"What?" Blake yelped defensively. "It's rude to stare."

Yang and Weiss had wry grins while teasingly elbowing each other in the side, not saying a word.

"Anything but dead silence!" Ruby groaned. "It's not fun-"

 **BOOM!**

The four jumped back in shock from the thundering noise. It sounded like something violently exploded. The sound was so harsh it caused Blake's cat ears to ring. Her hands had to cover the appendages, or her head felt like it'd split in two.

"What was that?!" Ruby yelped.

"You said no silence, Rubes," Yang teased. "There ya go."

"Not funny," Weiss said. "I think it came from team JNPR's room."

To find out what the noise was, the team darted out of their room and immediately noticed the door to their neighbor's room was seeping a dense smoke. As they slowly moved closer, a few coughs sounded.

Yang pounded on the door. "Guys! Everything okay in there?!"

There was no response, so the blonde twisted the doorknob. It wasn't warm like she thought it'd be. After reassuring nods from her team, she opened the door. They were greeted by a scene they thought they'd never see.

Everything was covered in pancake mix. The floor, ceiling, walls, beds, nothing was left unscathed. Almost every spot was splattered in the sticky, yellow substance. At first, team RWBY didn't see any members of team JNPR in there, but there was a slight movement.

Pyrrha was sitting at her desk with her mouth dropped. The poor girl had been drenched in the slimy goo. Jaune, however, was only coated in the face. It was utterly obliterated and he couldn't even open his eyes until he wiped off the slime.

Nora got the worst end of it with the mix doused all over her body. She tried to use her tongue to lick the deliciousness off, but she got frustrated that she couldn't eat all of it. She offered to eat some off Ren's, but he adamantly refused the offer. For… reasons... That's when team RWBY realized Ren was wearing his apron and chef hat while soaked in the batter.

"Oh uh, hey guys…" Jaune muttered. "Nice day we're having, huh?"

Team RWBY's jaws could only drop. After they scanned the entire place from the safety of the doorway, Jaune spoke again.

"Can you help clean up-"

Yang couldn't shut the door fast enough.

* * *

 **Dads are cool, too!**

 **As usual, stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	39. Their Own Way of Support

**Random update you can totally avoid reading if you don't want to: voice acting classes are going well! This is definitely something I'll stick with. Sorry, I had to tell someone since I'm really hyped for this golden opportunity! Oh, I just got the Switch this morning and bonded in line (very early) with random people. It's strange adjusting to California but it's fun so far! Now onto the chappy!**

* * *

After finishing their assignments, team RWBY elected to stroll around Vale. They agreed they deserved a break after the mission and classes. The vampire sisters didn't have to hide their eating habits, so right now the team was heading to the bakery they'd been to before.

Like it never failed to, the sun was shining proudly on the bustling town and almost smiling. The team couldn't remember a day when it wasn't beautiful outside. It could have been luck, but the city was always gorgeous. Even on the first day the pairs of sisters met, it was a pleasant atmosphere. Even though some grimm rudely interrupted the blissful day back then, it was still sunny and warmed their hearts.

Ruby found it amusing to see the two vampires were enjoying the cozy rays the most. Even more so than Yang.

The leader held back an amused chuckle, which caught Blake's attention. "Something wrong, Ruby?"

"No, it's nothing," Ruby said with mirth.

"If you say so," the blood-faunus shrugged off.

"Wait a sec," Yang pointed her finger at her teammates. "You guys can only eat bread and soup, right?"

"Yes, that's correct," Weiss answered, not sure where her teammate was going with it. "Why?"

Yang's wry grin never faded. "You said pizza was your favorite food," she started to laugh. "Oh man, why?! Why would you say that?!" she couldn't stop giggling. "No wonder why you felt like shit afterwards. That little slice almost killed you!"

"Really, though," Ruby backed her up. "Talk about an allergic reaction."

"I wasn't going to say my favorite was bread or soup. Those aren't even that good," Weiss explained.

"Why not?" Yang fake wiped a tear. "I would've bought that more than you liking pizza."

"Before coming here, Blake and I read books about humans. By far, they said that pizza was most humans' favorite food. So excuse me if our research was wrong!" the heiress exclaimed.

"Pizza is definitely the best," Yang agreed. "But only for certain types of people."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Weiss inquired.

A possible argument was brewing, so Blake stepped in before things could escalate. "It's too late now. At least we don't have to hide our diets anymore."

"I bet that's a huge relief," Ruby smiled.

"Now living with you will be much easier," Weiss smiled.

Yang pointed to herself. "So we were pains before, huh?"

The heiress narrowed her eyes and scanned Yang. "That wasn't what I meant and you know it."

Yang put her hands over her ears. "Lalalala, I can't hear you 'cuz I'm too much of a brute to understand."

"You're being-"

"Lalalalala!"

"-so childish!" Weiss finished.

"Hold on," Ruby recalled something as she glanced at Blake. "Back on the mission, when you revealed you were a faunus to team JNPR… didn't you say 'blood-faunus?'"

"Oh yeah, _that_ ," Blake cringed from the memory. "That was a bad slip up," she leaned into Ruby's ear. "It just means I'm a vampire that's also a faunus. A mix."

Ruby's face flushed as red as her cape from the close contact. "O-oh. M-makes sense."

Blake nodded and was amused at Ruby's flustered reaction. After grinning at her leader, Blake caught an all too-familiar tail in the distance. It would make sense to run into _him_ , especially since he seemed fond of Vale.

Any questions she had were answered when the monkey faunus strolled over to the team with his friend in tow.

"Hey guys!" Sun greeted and walked up to Blake. "Hey, Blake," he grinned and stretched slightly, which showed off his abs.

Ruby didn't know how to feel at the sight. She was mad and sad. Her and Blake were enjoying each other, and she didn't like seeing her talk with an attractive guy. It made her feel a little inadequate. But Ruby pushed those feelings to the side when she realized Blake seemed to enjoy his company as the two engaged in casual conversation.

Meanwhile, Neptune sauntered up to Weiss and gently grabbed her hand.

"Hello there, snow angel," his grin sparkled. "What brings you here?"

Before Weiss could answer, Yang stepped between the two. " _We_ are going to the local bakery."

"Mind if we join?" Neptune asked politely, his smile never faded.

Obviously, Sun and Neptune had no idea they were interrupting a team bonding day.

Yang bit her lip. _Of course I mind,_ she internally seethed. _Seeing your grubby hands all over her like that… wait, what?_ she was confused why the sight bothered her so much.

"I guess you can come with us," the blonde reluctantly allowed. She saw no reason to outright reject them. Especially since they were genuine, nice people.

"Awesome!" Sun chirped happily. "We got a lot to tell ya!"

"Save it for the bakery…" Yang irritatingly mumbled.

Weiss heard the mutter and wondered why her blonde teammate was suddenly in a sour mood.

It didn't take long for the six to reach the bakery. As usual, the team plus two was greeted with the typical, pleasant aroma. Mostly, they were just glad to be back.

So many things had happened since they were last here...

Luckily, few people were there, so they didn't have to worry about finding a spot. After grabbing their orders, the group sat at a narrow table in the corner of the humble shop.

Since Ruby and Yang found out Weiss and Blake were vampires, they wanted to be supportive in their own way. Because of that, they got the same kinds of bread the vampire sisters bought. Even though the store was riddled with delicious muffins and tarts, they chose regular bread to munch on.

Neptune and Sun were weirded out that the whole team got the exact same kind of bread, but didn't question it. They just figured they all had the same tastes.

Naturally, Sun didn't think twice about using his tail to eat his delectable pastry. After a quick bite, he spoke. "We need to tell you guys some stuff!"

"What?" Blake asked. "Do you need to pee again?"

Everyone knew she was referring to his lame excuse he gave the guards when the two broke into the White Fang hideout. Everyone snickered from the subtle jab, except the monkey faunus, who let out a groan.

"Yeah, Sun," Yang chirped. "Stop _monkeying_ around."

That made everyone stop laughing. From that, Blake set her glass down in the dead silence to properly give her partner a disappointed look.

"Oh, come on!" the blonde whined. "That was funny!"

"Ignore her lame jokes," the heiress advised. "You were saying?"

After she was shot down, Yang went back to her own business and pouted while chewing on the bread in silence.

"It's about the grimm in Vale," Neptune informed after biting his blueberry muffin.

"Right," Sun nodded and set his food on the napkin in front of him. "Me and Nep visited Vale a lot since we broke into the White Fang hideout."

"While you guys were gone on your mission in Acacia," Neptune finished.

Since Yang hadn't spoken, she already finished her food and chimed in. "Your point?"

"There's no more grimm activity," Neptune revealed. "Since we infiltrated the White Fang's nearby hideout, grimm have stopped dropping in the city."

Ruby leaned back in her seat with a faint smile from the news and placed a hand under her chin. "Maybe it really was Roman."

"It'd make sense," Yang added contentedly. "But then…"

"What about Cinder?" Weiss asked out loud, speaking everyone's thoughts.

After a few seconds of silence, Ruby spoke. "Roman said Cinder was still at large, right?"

"True," Weiss agreed. "But I wouldn't trust anything that convict says. He could have easily lied."

"No," Blake shook her head. "He was telling the truth. Under the file I found it said Cinder was an ex-member and ran away."

"She'sat large and out there somewhere," Neptune confirmed. "But that's just one file out of thousands. She more than likely has nothing to do with the grimm. Especially since the activity stopped when we captured Roman."

"Still," Blake's bow flicked. "It bothers me that she's out there. She's a dangerous person."

"What'd she do that was so bad?" Yang asked curiously. "It couldn't have been that bad."

The aristocrat glanced away with wandering eyes. "The file said she…"

Everyone leaned in with anticipation, silent as the chatters of random people lingered in their ears.

"She was commander of a section in the White Fang. Once she grew bored of them she…" there was a pregnant pause. "She killed her entire unit."

Dead silence.

"Yeah," Blake nodded, taking a deep breath. "She killed her comrades because she was bored. At least that's what the file stated. Who knows what her true reasons were-"

"Doesn't matter," Sun blurted. "Nothing justifies that."

After everyone nodded in agreement, Blake went on. "The file also said that two of her loyal followers destroyed other sections of the organization at the same time. It was a premeditated attack. Lots of faunus died because of them."

"Did the file say the followers' names?" Weiss asked.

"No," the blood-faunus answered. "It's tight-knit information."

"Do you think we should break into another hideout?" Sun asked. "Maybe we can find something about her followers. If Cinder is out there, they must be, too… and if they're that loyal, then they're with her."

"I don't see why we should pry deeper. And besides, even if we do that again, you're not going with me," Blake said.

That made Ruby laugh. Watching Blake shoot down the eager monkey faunus was something she had a guilty pleasure in.

"Why not find out?" Yang asked, still trying to grasp the information. "I mean… we already put one guy behind bars, why not another?"

"She has nothing to do with us," Blake stated firmly. "Trust me, it's better to stay as far away from this woman as possible. She's _very_ dangerous. There's no reason to try to catch her."

"I agree with Blake," Ruby chimed. "All that matters is that the grimm have stopped appearing in Vale. We did our job and now it's time to move on."

"I guess you're right," Sun sighed. "Fine, we'll leave it to the police."

"That's no fun…" the blonde couldn't help but pout. "Now what're we gonna do with our lives?"

Weiss playfully nudged her teammate. "We focus on our studies and become huntresses as planned, brute."

Yang beamed a smile. "I like the sound of that."

The team liked the idea of focusing on ordinary things for once.

It was then that Ruby recalled Sun said he and Neptune were in Vale a lot even though they live further away. "Why're you guys in Vale anyways? I thought you went to Haven."

"We're thinking about transferring!" Sun exclaimed. "After growing to love Vale so much we figured Beacon must be even better."

Yang glared at Neptune and caught a glance at Weiss. "Joy…"

"It's true!" Ruby beamed. "You'll love Beacon, they have the best cookies, great fighters, and for the most part, decent teachers," a shudder went through her spine when she thought of Port.

"Of course you'd say cookies first," Weiss stated. "Why am I not surprised?"

Ruby gave her partner the best puppy dog eyes she could muster. "You know you love me, Weissy!"

"Shut it, dolt!"

* * *

 **Ruby's line: "talk about an allergic reaction" was from a reviewer named Trewill91 back in chapter 20. I found it hilarious. His exact comment was "Good lord. Talk about an allergic reaction." Dude, I had to slip that in there somewhere. It was too good XD**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	40. Like a Dream

In general, it wasn't hard for the white-haired vampire to study. She didn't know why, but right now she couldn't focus no matter how much she tried. Weiss leaned over her desk in an attempt to study, but in reality, she was constantly distracted.

For some reason, she found herself thinking about the upcoming school dance.

The school dance date was coming closer with each passing day. Honestly, she wanted to go. To see what a _normal_ dance was like. Those overwhelming vampire balls certainly scarred her and Blake, so she was interested in what a regular dance with humans was like.

Maybe it would be fun?

Who would she go with?

That reminded her, she wanted to ask a certain someone to the dance, but didn't have the courage.

Wait, why was she nervous at the thought?

As each day went by, her courage fleeted away along with her pride.

Across the room, Yang suddenly stood from her chair in a fury. The chair screeched along the wood and grabbed the team's attention.

"THIS IS SO STUPID!"

Everyone almost jumped out of their seats from the sudden outburst. It had been silent in their dorm room up until this point. The team was trying to study, but it looked like Yang couldn't take it anymore.

"Jeez! You scared the crap outta me!" that made Ruby slam her textbook shut. "What is it, sis?!"

The blonde glared at the heiress in irritation.

"What?" Weiss asked evenly. "What do you want?"

 _Why's she looking at me like that?_ Weiss internally panicked. _Did I do something wrong?_

She was met with silence. An overbearing, looming silence. In fact, Yang looked like she was about to toss Weiss out the cracked open window.

"Yang," Blake called out. "You're scaring us. What's bothering you?"

Without speaking, Yang slowly approached the heiress. But this time, Yang's expression was now calm. Weiss almost stood to back away, thinking this would be another one of her lame pranks. But the kind demeanor Yang displayed made her want to know more than anything what her teammate wanted.

 _What the heck is she doing?_

A confident, yet shaky finger pointed directly at Weiss.

"Weiss Schnee!"

Weiss flinched from the shout and she stifled a whimper, wondering if she did something wrong.

"Y-yes?"

Despite her posture and previous assertive aura, Yang was a nervous wreck. Ruby had never seen her sister blush, get nervous, or even slightly shake from anxiety, so this was a first. Whatever she had in mind was nerve wracking, considering her sister had trouble sputtering words.

"W-w-will you…"

Weiss could only stare at her teammate, wondering what the hell had gotten into her.

 _I've never seen her like this. What's bugging her?_

Yang took a deep breath.

"Will you go to the dance with me?"

That question made everyone speechless, including Yang herself. She didn't think she'd have the courage to talk about the dance, much less ask someone to be her date.

Weiss' eyes widened at the question and her jaw almost dropped. Needless to say, she was in utter shock. It took all her willpower to not immediately form a reply. First, she needed to process what just happened.

 _Wh-what!?_

The last thing she was expecting was Yang to be so forward, even though it was Yang. All that time, she'd been trying to convince herself to ask her blonde teammate, but feared rejection. Especially since she was a vampire. She worried Yang might've thought she was a monster.

But as she gazed into those determined, kind, lilac eyes, she realized she worried for nothing. As a result, she felt guilty for doubting her teammate.

"W-well?" Yang asked after a few seconds of silence.

It didn't take much pondering to form an answer.

After a small chuckle, Weiss faintly smiled. "Yes, Yang. I'd be happy to go to the dance with a brute such as yourself."

Yang's jaw dropped. It wasn't the reply she was expecting, but her teammate agreed nonetheless.

"R-really!?"

"Really," the heiress' face was about to flush as she spun her chair around to avoid Yang seeing her embarrassed expression. "Don't make me take it back."

As soon as the anxiety came, it vanished. Yang beamed a broad grin and hugged Weiss from behind in an embrace. "The princess said yes!" she couldn't help but pick her up in victory, which caused a sharp yelp as Weiss was ripped from her chair. Yang proceeded to spin her around in circles with glee.

"Put me down, you brute!" Weiss shouted, not liking this one bit. "It's not safe!"

Ruby and Blake could only watch the two in awe and happiness.

 _Woah…_ the leader thought. _Yang is fearless,_ she glanced to Blake, who was looking at Ruby and blushed. _It's now or never! Time for you to earn the fearless leader title, Ruby!_

"Blake!"

From the yell, Yang stopped spinning Weiss in circles, which earned a relieved sigh. However, Yang still held her just above the floor like she was holding a feisty cat that would claw her any moment. The three members stared at their leader, all wondering what she wanted to say.

Ruby didn't think about her choice of words. It just came out like word vomit.

"Go to the dance with me!"

 _Oh no,_ Ruby thought. _That sounded more like a command from her leader. No!_

From her leader's words, Blake's amber orbs widened. She never thought someone as adorable as Ruby was interested in her, especially since she was a blood-faunus.

All Blake's life, she'd wanted to be one or the other. Rather than hiding both.

More than that, she wanted to be human.

Whenever someone discovered the Schnee's were purebloods, they were hunted down like prey to be displayed.

Watching her sisters and parents fear to _live_ was heartbreaking.

All those years, she kept telling herself that vampires weren't so bad. Even though they required human blood to live.

She felt like she'd been fooling herself to justify her existence.

And yet, somehow, she managed to find someone who didn't care about that.

Ruby was always there through thick and thin, even to help her cope with the nightmares she tended to have in the middle of night. Blake cursed herself for only worrying about not letting their vampire secret be revealed since she became part of this team.

She'd been blindsided by her own race.

Her own negligence.

Ruby anxiously twiddled her fingers after her teammate didn't respond. The blood-faunus just sent her the usual calculating gaze.

"I-I mean uh, w-would you g-go to the dance with me?"

Ruby corrected her statement to a more polite question. Her attempt was filled with stutters, but it still made Blake's heart flutter.

"Yes, Ruby," Blake answered. "There's no one else I'd rather go with."

Ruby pumped her fist in the air from the victory. "Yes!"

Blake giggled at the action, which caused the leader to blush.

"I-I meant awesome!" Ruby nervously exclaimed. "Whew, that's a load off my shoulders."

When that was settled, Yang finally set Weiss down, something she almost forgot to do. Once Weiss touched the floor finally, she lightly flicked her teammate on the forehead. Normally, the heiress would've smacked her hardly on the head, but eased up this time. Yang hadn't missed the fact that she wasn't as mad as she usually was when picked off the floor. The previous events certainly put her in a good mood.

"Aw, Rubes, you stole my thunder!" the blonde playfully teased.

"I couldn't just let you be fearless, Yang!" Ruby retorted. "I'm supposed to be the fearless leader!"

Despite her little sister taking the spotlight as well, Yang pulled her into a rib-crushing hug. Instantly, the oxygen flew from Ruby's lungs as she grunted.

"I'm proud of ya, Rubes."

"Y-Yang… can't… breathe."

"Oh, right," the blonde loosened the embrace and broke apart. "My bad."

Realizing she neglected her attention, Ruby faced Blake while pressing her fingers together. "Thanks for uh, saying yes. I-I was really nervous," she finished with a sweet smile.

"Really?" Blake tilted her head, her voice dripped with sarcasm. "I couldn't tell."

Ruby put on her best puppy dog eyes. "Really?"

Before replying, the aristocrat pulled out a bag of cookies she kept hidden in her stocking and dangled it in front of the leader.

"Really."

Ruby practically drooled at the sight of the sweets. "Where'd you find those?"

"Under your pillow," Blake said casually. "They fell on the floor when you were gone."

Weiss stared at her leader, not at all surprised. "Really?"

Ruby tilted her chin up defiantly. "Really."

* * *

The day of the dance had finally arrived. It would definitely take majority of the day to get ready. Team RWBY also knew that they didn't want their dates to see them in their respective dresses before the dance.

As a result, Ruby and Yang stayed in their room to get ready, while Blake and Weiss used team CFVY's room. Thankfully, the blood-faunus was friends with Velvet, so she was more than happy to let them in.

It took Yang and Ruby a lot of guts to ask their teammates to the dance and were ultimately glad they pulled through and got dates…

With their crushes.

A few hours went by and during that time, the vampire sisters finished doing their hair and nails with each other's help. It would be a nightmare if Blake had to use her left hand to paint her right, and if Weiss used her right hand to paint the left.

Once they did that, they helped each other with makeup and their upperclassmen friends gave them pointers. After they changed into their respective dresses, they put on their heels.

Blake adorned a black dress and a new blue bow while Weiss chose a simple white dress and heels to match. The vampire sisters had known each other for majority of their lives, so seeing how much they've both grown…

It was hard to process.

Weiss gazed at Blake fondly, a smile present. "You're stunning, Blake."

She meant every word. Ever since Blake was brought to the castle that fateful day, the whimpering and shaky girl had transformed into a fearless huntress in training. It was like she was a completely different person in the best way possible.

Blake returned the grin full force. "You look gorgeous yourself."

The aristocrat never thought this day would come. Since joining the family of purebloods, their days were spent in isolation and away from society. Blending in with humans seemed like a dream far out of reach.

Yet here they both were, about to go to a normal school dance with their special dates.

Both vampires had wished to be human before coming to Beacon and as they continued the school year, those feelings became stronger. However, even though they weren't human, they had somehow reached salvation. If only for tonight.

Reality felt like a dream. Like all of this was artificial and that they'd wake up any moment. But when they gazed reassuringly at each other, they knew it was reality.

"You guys look great!" Velvet compliment the sisters. "Who are your dates?"

"I'm going with Yang," Weiss revealed, her tone suggested she was excited.

"Ruby," Blake simply replied and felt warm inside from saying her name. "What about you?"

Yatsuhashi placed his bulky arm around the rabbit faunus' shoulder and she pointed to him. "I'm going with Yatsu and Coco and Fox are going together."

It made Blake happy to see another couple similar to themselves going together. They were both teammates, and a human was going with a faunus. It was strikingly like her case.

"That's sweet," the blood-faunus commented.

"It seems like every team is going with their own members," Weiss pondered out loud. "It's nice."

Coco nodded, her sunglasses were surprisingly not present, which was something the vampire sisters weren't used to. To their amazement, she had the most twinkling brown eyes.

"It definitely shows how much each team has bonded," Coco observed.

"Especially since initiation," Blake added and thought back to when all her team did was argue. Well, mainly Yang and Weiss. "A lot of things have happened since then."

"You can say that again," Velvet playfully punched Yatsuhashi in the arm. "When we first met, Yatsu was a total recluse."

"I wasn't _that_ bad," Daichi countered, seemingly unsure of his words.

"Sure," Velvet almost scoffed. "If you were the same person as last year we'd never go to the dance together."

"I guess that's true," he reluctantly agreed. "Are we ready to go?"

When he received nods of confirmation, the six headed out.

* * *

"Gah!"

"What's wrong, sis?!" Yang yelped.

"These stupid lady stilts!" Ruby whined. "How the heck does Weiss walk around in these all the time?! They're impossible!"

The leader kicked off her heels in frustration. Almost immediately, she adorned a smile of relief and started to rub her already sore feet.

"Ruby," Yang said. "It's just for one night. Those heels pull together your outfit perfectly."

It was true. Right now, Ruby was wearing a red dress she allowed Yang to pick. She was hesitant to let her big sister pick, especially since Yang was kind of known to wear more revealing clothing, but she was also not surprised. Ruby was her baby sister, so naturally, Yang didn't want any prying eyes on her 'defenseless' baby sister, so she chose a dress that was classy, yet charming. It was mainly Ruby's fault for the shoe choice since she wanted to try the black heels, but she was regretting that choice.

Yang picked up the black heels and held them out to her sister, giving her a look. "Just put them on and try to break them in. We should'a done that a couple of days ago. Sorry, I didn't think about that detail."

"It's okay, Yang, I wanted to try them in the first place," Ruby reminded. Truth be told, she just wanted to know why her partner had an affinity for them. She thought they'd be cool, or had some secret weapon, or bring her to a new world.

New world alright. New world of pain.

When Ruby stopped squirming around, she slipped the heels on. She stood a bit wobbly, kind of like a newborn giraffe learning to walk. With an encouraging nod from Yang, she pranced around the room for practice and tried not to break stride.

"Ruby," Yang grinned. "You're beautiful! I'm so proud!"

"Still feels weird."

"Fake it till you make it!" Yang gave her thumbs up and pulled her in for a hug.

To Yang, her baby sister had grown so much over the years. She remembered when she practiced ten times harder than the other students her age in order to be accepted into Beacon. Now, she successfully was the leader of her own team and by some miracle, asked Blake to be her date.

"Y-Yang… crushing… me."

"O-oh, woops," she released her grip so Ruby could breathe.

Once the leader regained her breath, she smiled at Yang. "You're pretty, too, Yang. Weiss is lucky."

Yang had chosen a simple white dress. The previous, seemingly normal, now radiant color seemed to rub off on her from spending so much time with her white-haired teammate.

Ruby couldn't remember a day when she hadn't been by Yang's side. After the tragedy of losing her mother, the blonde was there for her through it all. Yang is the only one who truly cheered Ruby up after her mother's death. She was the reason the leader was even here at Beacon.

The blonde slung her arm around her sister's shoulders. "Blake is even more lucky. She's honored!"

Ruby's face heated up at the mere mention of her name. "You think so?"

"I know so," Yang replied without doubt. "Don't be so nervous. We're gonna have a blast."

"Right," the leader nodded. "I'll try not to be nervous."

"Glad to hear it," Yang took her sister's hand. "Let's go, we should meet up with them now."

The sisters left their room after locking the door, eager to meet with their dates.

It didn't take long for Ruby and Yang to arrive in front of the ballroom doors. Outside, the moon was beaming on the pair in the joyous night. In the distance, they could see a pair of white and black walking next to each other with team CFVY in tow.

From the sight, Yang and Ruby were in a trance, trying to process if the vampire sisters were actually their dates.

Team CFVY walked by the two and said various greetings, but Ruby was far too gone to process their words. Yang on the other hand sang, "Hello~" back to them and glared at Ruby. She was about to scold her for bad manners since she just ignored the entire team.

That's when Blake waved a hand in front of Ruby's face. "Hello? Remnant to Ruby?"

But Ruby just kept gawking at Blake, undeterred from the palm blatantly in her face.

After a little sigh, Blake thought of a plan. "You know, I hear there's a weapons sale tomorrow-"

"Ohgodthat'ssocoolwhencanwegoareyouavailableweshouldgotogethernowaitlet'sbringthewholeteamthat'dbesoawesomeifallofourteamgotnewgearwe'dneverloseasinglebattleohIwonderifthey'llhavecookiesforsaletoowouldthatbeweird-"

"Ruby," Blake cut her off. "Sorry, I was kidding. You were in this weird trance. Thought that might snap you out of it."

"S-sorry," the leader was no longer in a stupor. "I-it's just y-you look beautiful."

"You look stunning yourself," Blake reminded, her cheeks tinted as red as Ruby's dress.

"Ready to go, Yang?"

From the voice, Yang whipped her head around to see Weiss. Her white hair was illuminated in the moonlight. It was alluring and almost sparkled like a waterfall cascading down the mountains. The blonde was sure she'd never seen anything so captivating in her life.

When the heiress received no response, she lightly flicked Yang's forehead. "Are you ready?"

"H-huh? O-oh yeah…"

Ruby shook her head. "And you told me not to get nervous."

Weiss' face already flushed. "You look very elegant, Yang."

That was certainly a sentence Yang never thought she would hear from her teammate. When Yang finally regained her composure, she held her hand out, which Weiss was happy to take. "You're gorgeous yourself," Yang said earnestly. "Let's get inside and have some fun, princess."

Weiss blushed all over again and the team headed inside. The normally vacant room was now bustling with people dancing. The D.J. was playing a fast song, and it didn't take long for team RWBY to realize team JNPR was already there.

The other team was dancing in perfect unison. It seemed like they had spent hours on the choreography because it was perfect and precise. RWBY, along with the rest of the crowd, just watched. The dance was so lively and animated, more than they'd originally thought it'd be. When the song ended, JNPR went back to their respective partners.

Weiss was more relieved than anyone when she noticed that Pyrrha went back to talk to Jaune. It finally seemed like JNPR's leader got the hint when he danced with his partner. It didn't come as a shock when Ren and Nora started to dance together. The two had been inseparable since coming to Beacon.

Seeing them dance made Yang hold out her hand. "Would you like to dance?"

Weiss playfully rolled her eyes and placed her hand in her gentle grasp. "Of course."

The two joined the other students in the middle of the floor.

They got close together and before they started moving, Weiss spoke. "If you're going to dance with me, you must keep your chin up, got it?"

Yang grinned. "You have nothin' to worry about," she took the lead with no hesitation.

Weiss was shocked her teammate was so graceful, considering her combat style.

Yang hadn't tripped up once and Weiss was impressed. "You're really good at this," meaning every word.

As the two continued to move in rhythm, Yang's smile never faded. "What can I say? This brute is perfect."

The comment earned a slight laugh from Weiss. The two continued in this manner for several minutes and studied each other's movements in bliss.

"Ruby," Blake called. After watching her partner ask her sister to dance, Blake wanted to do the honors. "Dance with me."

From Blake's tone, Ruby sensed she was poking fun at her earlier for _telling_ Blake to go to the dance with her instead of _asking_.

She giggled and placed her hand in hers.

"It would be an honor."

The aristocrat slightly blushed as she placed her hand on Ruby's hip. She noticed Ruby's face also flushed almost as red as her dress from the action. From the action, Ruby placed her hand on Blake's shoulder as their free hands finally met.

The two went slow and Blake took the lead. She had been conditioned to dance like this since joining the Schnee family in order to please the other vampires at the parties. In fact, both vampire sisters were accustomed to leading when it came to simple dancing. It felt odd to follow, but it wasn't a bad thing.

But right now, Blake wasn't dancing with some suitor who only wanted her for power or money.

She was dancing with Ruby.

The two pressed close to each other in comfortable silence, furious blushes still present. They had danced for so long they could predict each other's movements, just like they could while in combat.

"You're really good at this," the leader said, her silver eyes hesitantly met amber. It was a calm moment when they stared. It wasn't a clash, but more like they connected serenely.

"Thanks," Blake accepted the compliment. "You are, too."

Ruby was glad to see Blake seemed as nervous as she was. "Let's just enjoy ourselves!"

From that, both loosened up a bit, happy they were in the same boat.

Blake grinned from her leader's cheerfulness. "I'd like nothing more."

* * *

 **Finally, some fluffy action!**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	41. Dance the Night Away

Dancing for about an hour took its toll, so team RWBY finally decided to refresh themselves and sit down. In the distance, there were many tables, but just a few had four seats. Obviously, the four sat there and were content to people watch and enjoy the atmosphere.

Every table adorned a white, silk-like cloth. The ballroom was more animated than ever, with more than half of the students of Beacon present. It was that time of night that it was too late to arrive to a party, so the vast majority of people who were planning to go were already there.

While the team rested, they exchanged casual conversation and shared a few laughs. Ruby and Yang were content with their punch, taking a few sips every now and then.

Since there was red punch at the dance, the vampire sisters found it was extremely easy for their blood tablet water to blend in. Before, Yang and Ruby helped distract the people around them so the vampires could slip the pills in their water.

The result was a replica of the regular, run of the day punch.

So now all members were on cloud nine, unable to stop grinning.

After a few more giggles, Blake caught the all-too-familiar monkey tail in the distance.

Apparently, she wasn't the only one who saw him when Yang nudged her side gently. "Sun's here?"

"Yes," Weiss replied, speaking everyone's thoughts. "So is Neptune."

Neptune and Sun were dancing together. Sun seemed to live for this kind of party while Neptune was horribly off beat to the rhythm. Normally, the partners were strikingly similar, but currently they were opposites. From the looks of it, Sun was chiding the poor guy.

"Who dances that badly…?" Blake mumbled.

That's when the blue-haired boy started to sulk and gazed in the distance. It only took a second for him to spot the team. Instantly, his pout slipped to a grin.

"He sees us," Blake stated, not sounding enthusiastic whatsoever.

As Neptune strutted over, Weiss could only gaze with disinterest. "He's _still_ wearing those goggles?"

"Hello, ladies," Neptune beamed his twinkling smile. "Is there room for one more?"

Not wanting him to flirt with her date, Ruby spoke to change the subject. "Did you go to the dance with Sun?"

That question caught him off guard. Neptune was perplexed from her words and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, a nervous display the girls had rarely seen. "Yeah, as a matter of fact, we did!"

Suddenly, Sun popped up from behind Neptune and casually swung his arm around his shoulder. "Sup, guys?"

"You're here together?" the question was asked immediately by Blake, who was shocked. She was positive the monkey faunus had been hitting on her.

"Yeah," Sun easily replied. "We came here to fuck shit up."

"UpupuUpupup!" Neptune silenced his teammate. "We aren't going to mess it up _that_ badly."

Team RWBY wondered if the two went together as just friends or more. Neptune was a known womanizer, so they doubted it. Plus, they knew it was common for friends to go to dances together. Still, Yang and Ruby felt better. Hopefully while Sun was there he wouldn't let Neptune hit on their dates.

"Did ya guys hear?" Sun mentioned. "Our team is transferring to Beacon."

Now that Yang and Ruby thought the two wouldn't try to flirt with Blake and Weiss, they were more than happy to hear the news. Looks like they worried about potential competition for nothing.

"Can't say I'm surprised," the heiress chimed. "Welcome to Beacon."

"Thanks, snow angel," Neptune winked, which caused Yang's eye to twitch.

 _What the hell's this guy doin'?_ Yang thought, trying to compose herself. _He's at the dance with Sun and he's hitting on MY date?_

It was obvious Weiss was uncomfortable with the flirtatious gesture, so she glanced at Yang, who was gritting her teeth. The almost pleading glance from her date was all she needed to speak up.

"I'm Weiss' date."

"You are? Sorry," Neptune got the hint. "My bad."

After he immediately apologized, that lightened the mood and lifted their spirits. He wasn't a bad guy, not by a long shot. He was just oblivious. The three continued to talk and chuckle. Yang and Weiss gave him warnings about what to watch out for at Beacon like Port and Nora's pancakes. Since Neptune was an intellectual, Weiss was more than happy to tell him the best times to study in the library when no one else was around, and where the best textbooks were.

That's when Yang placed a hand under her chin and giggled to herself. "Nerds…"

That earned a playful flick to her forehead.

On the other side of the table, Sun leaned forward and stared at Blake. "Who'd you go with? I never would've thought Yang and Weiss would go together, so did you guys come here together?"

The aristocrat simply nodded and pointed at Ruby, who was eating cookies. "Y-yweah!"

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose. "Don't talk with your mouth full, dunce."

Blake smiled at her leader. "Only you can find cookies at a time like this."

Ruby swallowed hardly with a satisfying gulp. "Ehehehe, Blake's with me!"

For some reason, hearing that made the blood-faunus happy. Especially when it came from Ruby's own mouth. Like it was too good to be true.

"That's cool," Sun airily replied. "We'll catcha later."

As soon as they came, Sun and Neptune returned to the dance floor. They joined up with two other guys. One of them had red hair, while the other was bigger than the rest of the group and adorned green hair.

"That was a thing," Yang said.

"Beacon will have an awesome new team," Ruby mentioned and casually sipped her punch.

Before the team could get up to join their friends on the dance floor, another team walked over to their table and sat down to have casual conversation.

"Hey guys!" Nora cheerily greeted. "You having a fun time?"

"Definitely," Blake said, her voice more eager than usual, something Ruby didn't miss. "We can tell you guys are, too."

Yang broadly grinned at the giddy group. "How long did it take ya to rehearse those moves?"

"Pffffft," Nora waved off. "We're just naturally that talented. No practice needed!"

The daunting look on Jaune's face was more than enough to tell them it took a little more than just a few hours to nail the choreography.

"Yeah, right," Ruby remarked. "Come on, you can tell us! It took a few weeks, right?"

A stiff nod from Ren. It was as if he was afraid to tell them the truth.

"I knew it!" Ruby exclaimed. "Wow that was so worth it you guys looked so cool who was in charge of the dance moves was it brutal is that why you guys are acting weird I can tell you must've looked forward to tonight for a long time why didn't you let me and my team in on it we could'a been backup dancers or something not that you need us it would've been more fun that way what're you guys doing afterwards me and my team were gonna-"

As Ruby continued her rant, everyone stared at her just to see how long she could go without taking a breath.

Taking advantage of the situation, Weiss leaned in Pyrrha's ear. "You went with him, huh?"

"Yes," Pyrrha couldn't wipe the grin off her face as she gazed at her leader. "Jaune is a gentleman."

Jaune noticed Pyrrha staring at him, so he nervously waved. His cheeks flushed simultaneously as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and the two hesitantly broke eye contact. From that, Weiss playfully rolled her eyes, knowing they were a perfect match.

 _He was so dense,_ Weiss thought.

"We're not together _together_ ," Nora chirped and looked at Ren. "T-that'd just be weird, right?"

The quiet boy, Ren, just sighed.

From that, Nora nodded. "Right."

"Nora," Ren shyly spoke. "Let's go dance together."

Nora seemed perplexed by his words, but composed herself rather quickly. "Let's go knock their socks off, partner!"

"If that earlier routine didn't I don't know what will," Ruby commented.

As Ren and Nora walked to the dance floor arm-in-arm, she looked back over her shoulder and sent them a grin.

"I think we'll dance again as well," Pyrrha stood along with her partner. "Take care."

"Have fun, guys," Jaune waved.

Team JNPR was rather close to Beacon's newest team when they were all dancing and laughing. Seeing them together like that made team RWBY stand to join the fun.

"We should join them," Ruby beamed. "Wanna?"

"Why not," Blake shrugged.

At first, their steps were robotic. Neither knew what to do at first, so Blake just did what came naturally. She slowly slid her hand down to Ruby's hip, which elicited a slight blush from both girls. After realizing it was okay, Ruby brushed her other hand on the taller girl's shoulder. Their free hands met and interlocked along with the sweet rhythm.

As time went by, their stiffened muscles loosened. They were finally able to enjoy themselves without a care in the world. Blake even twirled her date around with a small spin. The move caught Ruby off guard, but she was entranced by the atmosphere, and even let out a laugh.

Watching the two have so much fun made Yang want to join. She was about to ask her date, but was surprised when she saw a pale hand held out in front of her.

"Let's go, brute."

Yang had an ear-to-ear grin as she accepted the gesture. "Course, princess."

Together, the two went to the center of the room where the other students were dancing. Various laughs, voices, and cheerful beats grazed the sea of people.

This time, Weiss took the lead and took things slow because she was never a fan of dancing too fast.

Yang didn't seem to mind.

Together, they swayed to the rhythm for a while and enjoyed each other's presence. The two never got too close since it was a faster song.

After dancing for so long, it was easy to predict each other's movements. Yang paid extra attention to her partner, reading her motions and feeling the workings of her body.

When Weiss felt like it was appropriate, she turned Yang around in a spin, which earned a giggle filled with mirth.

When Yang whirled back around, she lifted her arm up to spin her partner since it would be easier because the blonde was taller, especially since she had heels on. In response, Weiss twirled on her heel and the corners of her lips slipped into a smile.

An immediate blush formed on Yang's cheeks. She'd never seen her teammate so carefree. She was starting to think she wouldn't mind if they stayed like this forever. The two got lost by simply basking in each other's presences, laughing and dancing the night away.

Before they knew it, they picked up the rhythm along with the booming music. Weiss was astonished she wasn't uncomfortable dancing this fast since she was used to slow dancing. In fact, she found that she really liked it. Especially when she was with Yang.

She wondered if she would enjoy dancing like this with someone else.

But highly doubted it.

* * *

 **This was a strange one. Nothing really happened this chapter and it might've worked better if it was blended with the previous or next one, but personally, I think it needed its own chapter. Maybe you'll see my reasoning as to why next week!**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	42. Partners

The dance at Beacon was still roaring in the night. Students were piled into the room, which was booming with music. It was so loud each person could feel the vibrations rock their bodies.

Ruby and Blake had been dancing right across from their other team members.

Silver eyes locked onto lilac.

Ruby nodded knowingly at her sister, and Yang did the same.

When they internally counted to three, the sisters spun out their dates to switch partners.

Blake and Weiss let slip surprised yelps and thought they'd slam against some strangers.

However, Blake easily glided to Yang's care while Ruby smoothly caught Weiss.

Now, both sets of original partners were with each other, playfully swaying.

Weiss was amused with Ruby's giddy expression. "Enjoying yourself?"

The leader giggled and spun her new dance partner. "You have no idea."

When Weiss pivoted back around, her lips quirked into a smile. "Maybe a little _too_ much?"

"You know you love this as much as me," Ruby beamed, noticing her partner was as relaxed as she was even though they were still moving fast.

At the beginning of the year, all Weiss wanted was to get out of the house she and Blake had been isolated in.

As the year went by, she realized she'd been greedy. During initiation, she would have done anything to be Blake's partner, but right now all she could think about was how amazing her leader was, even though she was eccentric, two years younger, and a cookie addict.

This made Weiss think of how alike and different the two partners really were. The heiress grew up isolated and ended up cold to the others around her because of that. However, with the help of Ruby, she broke through her icy shell.

Ruby was like a mini ray of sunshine. Both Yang and Ruby could easily cheer them up and send waves of warmth not just on Weiss and Blake's skin, but their hearts as well.

Ruby and Weiss were alike in the fact that they're quick to think on their feet. It was no wonder they ended up as partners. The more Weiss thought about it, the more she thought Ruby deserved and earned the title 'leader' or 'fearless leader' as she puts it.

"I didn't know you could be so smooth," the heiress stated, referring to the partner switch.

"Oh, _that_ ," Ruby recalled. "Yeah, I'm a wreck without Yang. She's the real smooth one."

"I wouldn't say that, dunce," Weiss said solemnly.

Truth be told, Ruby was just as good, if not a better dancer than Yang. Either she was gifted in that, or she was a quick learner.

"Psh," Ruby dismissed. "Name one time I was smooth."

"Right now," the heiress said knowingly. "Your movements are in perfect coordination with mine. Have you taken dance lessons before?"

"No," Ruby admitted. "But Yang…"

The mention of her name caught Weiss' attention. "What about her?"

"She took lessons before this," the leader revealed. "She offered to teach me, but I kept screwing up and eventually gave up."

From the information, to say Weiss was intrigued was an understatement.

" _Yang_ took dance lessons before this?"

As the two kept dancing to the beat, Ruby nodded. "Yeah, she said she just wanted to get better at an 'important social skill,' but it was obvious to me she wanted to impress you."

Azure orbs trailed to the tamed blonde mane. "It definitely worked… that brute..."

Blake and Yang seemed to be having even more fun. Even though the two were opposites, they fit well with each other as they swayed with the beat.

During initiation, Blake would have done anything to get anyone but Yang as her partner, however, as she locked onto those lilac eyes, she knew she would never change partners if she had the option.

After worrying so much about herself and her family's very existence, she finally let loose. Yang was more than happy to let her do so as she twirled her around.

"You're a damn good dancer, kitten."

And of course, there was that. Blake would never let her know, but she secretly enjoyed the cat jokes and nicknames she gave her.

"I doubt that, you're the one leading."

Blake was impressed. Normally if she danced, she was the one to lead. The past vampire parties provided a dance floor, but no one seemed to know how to properly they hosted parties in that room, the Schnee's were _always_ expected to lead. Not follow. It was a nice change of pace.

Blake noticed her partner slowed down ever so slightly, silently signaling for her to take the lead. She was more than happy to oblige and started with the tap of her foot.

Yang easily followed suit. The two continued like that for a few minutes until their hands hit a random stranger. After apologizing, they decided it was too crowded, and they felt a little claustrophobic as a result.

As they were walking over to a vacant table, Ruby and Weiss followed soon after, visibly worn out.

"You guys wait here," Ruby said. "I'll be right back."

"So how's-"

With Ruby's semblance, she was back in a flash, effectively cutting Yang off. "I'm back!"

Blake gawked at her leader. "She wasn't kidding…"

The three saw she was holding four cupcakes, one for each person. Each delectable delight adorned blue frosting and vanilla mix. Now that Blake thought about it, she noticed Ruby had been eyeballing them for a while. She must've been holding back all this time to wait for the perfect moment.

"Jeez, Rubes," Yang almost chided. "That was fast."

"I know," Ruby was already drooling and set out the treats on paper plates.

Weiss and Blake picked up their cupcakes, and just before they could eat them, Yang gasped.

"Wait!" the blonde lunged forward to hold down their arms, making sure the treat didn't even reach their mouths. "You can't have those, remember?"

The vampire sisters stared at each other and then the food in their hands in utter shock.

They forgot something that required their constant attention.

They forgot they weren't human.

They weren't sure how to feel about that.

Somehow, their wonderful dates made them forget for about what they are.

What they've been through.

They felt wonderful and awful at the same time.

Wonderful because this was the first time they felt human.

Awful because they were still not human.

"Oh man!" Ruby whined. "I-I'm so sorry! I totally forgot!"

"It's okay, Ruby," Weiss assured as she set the cupcake down. "Thank you for the offer. And thank you, Yang. You certainly spared us some pain."

The other team members thought back to the last time the heiress ate human food. That almost turned out to be a fatal disaster. They couldn't imagine what it would've been like if both of them became that ill.

Blake smiled sadly down at the treat and then to Ruby. "We can have some bread later, alright?"

"Exactly," the heiress agreed.

That seemed to make Ruby perk up. "We can go to the bakery later."

Yang pat Ruby on the back. "Good idea."

The blood-faunus watched the worried sisters push the food to the side. She knew how much Ruby wanted to eat the delicious sweets. She really did. She felt bad for making them feel like they shouldn't eat it, but if she tried to stop them, she knew they'd adamantly reassure her that it was fine.

"So, Blakey…"

Weiss was distracted from the conversation when she felt her scroll vibrate. The last thing she wanted to do was check the text since she knew it was rude in this setting. Thinking it was important, she convinced herself she would make it as swift as possible.

It must've been one of her family.

An important message, perhaps?

Yang noticed Weiss was looking at her phone. "What's up, princess?"

"I got a text," the heiress replied. "Sorry, I need to check this."

"Oh, alright," the blonde continued to have casual conversation with the rest of her team.

Weiss wondered if it was an emergency since she knew her family was aware tonight was the dance.

To her surprise, the text was from an unknown number. She squinted and noticed that it wasn't even a number, so it would be impossible to pinpoint where the sender was located.

Curious, she examined the text.

After reading it, her stomach dropped, she felt like she'd be sick. She couldn't speak and she felt like the world she had tried so hard to build for her and Blake shattered all in a moment.

Blake tore her gaze away from Ruby. When she caught a glimpse of Weiss, her voice raised in alarm.

"Weiss, are you okay?"

Weiss was far too gone to register her sister's worried voice. Her eyes were widened in shock as she tried to process the message, gazing in the distance seemingly at nothing. She was lost in thought, trying to decode the meaning and threat behind the message.

She bit her lip and squeezed her phone till her knuckles turned white.

A bead of sweat rolled down her face.

"Ohhhh, Weiss!" Ruby tried to get her attention. "What's wrong?"

Blake, Ruby and Yang noticed her eyes were glazed over like she wasn't there. As a result, the blonde gently shook her shoulders, effectively snapping her out of her stupor.

Relief washed over the three when they saw life spark back into those azure pools. However, they immediately knew something was wrong the moment their teammate replied.

"Everything is fine."

* * *

 **Is it, Weiss? Is everything fine? ;)**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	43. Not Human

**I've waited** _ **so**_ **long to post this chapter. I even set a reminder over a year ago: TODAY's THE DAY! THE SUN IS SHINING, THE TANK IS CLEAN AND IT's TIME TO POST MY BABY CHAPTER 43-*gasp* THE TANK IS CLEAN?!**

* * *

A breeze whipped through her long white tresses. She'd been wandering in the Emerald Forest for about five minutes because she received the threatening text from an unknown number.

She wondered more than anything who sent the text.

Who knew she was a vampire.

Everything was perfect until that message.

Weiss was dancing with her partner and her date almost all night and at one point, the vampire sisters even forgot something crucial to their everyday lives.

That they weren't human.

They had been enjoying themselves so much and got so absorbed in the atmosphere that they forgot.

However, as soon as the heiress received the text...

 _If you don't want me to expose you to the world of what you are, meet me in the Emerald Forest in thirty minutes. If you fail to do so, I will take away everything you love._

… her night was ruined.

So here she was, wandering the Emerald Forest when she should be back at the dance with her friends.

She only brought her dress and heels.

No weapons, no dust.

Nothing.

She figured since the random sender knew what she was, there was no point.

"It is a pleasure to see you," a sarcastic voice chimed from the shadows.

The heiress pivoted on her heel to the direction of the voice. She'd never heard it before, so she was genuinely curious who it belonged to.

When she turned around, she noticed the sender, a woman, was floating in midair and glaring down at her.

It took a moment to focus her vision in the moonlight, but the woman's face was made clear.

"You're..."

The woman chuckled darkly at the girl's reaction.

Weiss backed away slowly. "The file…"

The woman smirked sinisterly and lifted one hand, creating a small fire ball the size of her palm. It burned ominously in the night.

Taking that as a threat, Weiss struck a combat stance even though she had no weapon.

Just zehn and aura.

"You're Cinder!" Weiss hissed knowingly.

From the revelation, Cinder didn't seem surprised at all that the girl knew her name. She tauntingly fiddled with the fireball floating in her grasp.

"You should know the name of the one who will kill you."

 _Kill?_

Despite the threat, the vampire kept a levelled head. "Tell me," she yelled up at her, combat stance lowered. "Are you the one behind the grimm attacks?!"

A snarky leer was her only answer. Instead, the intimidating woman that was floating snapped her fingers.

From that, dozens of beowolves and ursa gathered in the area within seconds. It was like the shortest and loudest stampede. Each beast was snarling and ready to strike their target. It was hard to tell just how many there were, but there were dozens of red eyes that pierced the darkness.

"You tell me."

Weiss set her jaw and narrowed her eyes in anger.

 _She is the one behind the grimm attacks,_ she slowly took a few steps back. _She's extremely dangerous. Oh no..._

Before the menacing grimm could advance, two more figures that were hiding made themselves known. One of them had a smirk, who was enjoying himself. The other just looked mad, who looked like she held a grudge against the confused girl.

"Emerald and Mercury!?" the vampire's eyes widened and she clenched her fists, gasping at the epiphany. "What…"

That's when it hit her. The followers she read about in the file. The ones who had tagged along with Cinder on her rampage in the White Fang. They had been with her all along. They were hiding in open view. They were her classmates and she even fought Mercury in a practice round.

 _An ambush,_ Weiss deduced. _She was serious when she said she wanted to kill me, but she brought help. Is she not confident enough to face me alone?_

Mercury shrugged and wasn't interested in what she had to say. "We've been found out."

That's when Weiss snapped. "What the hell's the meaning of this?!"

Emerald pointed her green dual revolvers directly at the vampire. "We're going to take your power."

 _My pureblood power,_ Weiss realized. _The greedy bastards!_

The only way to obtain a pureblood's power was to kill that pureblood. They really were here to kill her.

Since they wanted her power, Weiss concluded at least one of them in the group was a greedy vampire. She'd put her money on Cinder, who was still floating. The other two just seemed like her loyal followers.

"Coward!" Weiss seethed as she yelled up at Cinder. "Fight me one-on-one!"

She knew it was an idle suggestion, but she had to try.

Mercury narrowed his eyes and stepped closer to the heiress. "Do us a favor and drop dead."

After that, Cinder heaved the fireball directly at Weiss. However, the heiress didn't even flinch as she stared down the flaming ball of light unyieldingly, challenging the wicked attack without fear.

The blaze punctured the darkness and zipped through the air, leaving a trail of roaring flames behind as it steered toward her.

That's when a girl dressed in red popped in front of her from a black cloud. She twirled her scythe in several circles to block the attack. After that, she took a defensive stance with her red cape flowing in the breeze.

Once the puff of smoke cleared, Weiss looked at her partner knowingly. "Thank you, Ruby."

"You're welcome," the leader said as she stared up at the frowning woman, who was still floating.

Not a second later, a black shadow teleported directly behind the threat. In midair, Blake drop-kicked Cinder in the back, causing sickening crunch sounds to ring out.

The seemingly invincible woman was knocked out of the air and was sent whizzing to the ground. The impact was so immense it left a dent in the surrounding area.

While Blake was still in midair, she vanished, leaving another black cloud. In a moment, she appeared by Ruby and Weiss' side, joining them on the ground.

It took a few seconds for Cinder to crawl out of the new hole in the planet. Her underlings were too busy gawking at how sudden everything was.

The woman struggled to push herself up. That sudden crushing strike knocked her down a few pegs.

"You got your friends involved?!"

It was then that Sun, Neptune, and Yang stepped out of the shadows and walked over to their friends in a line formation.

The monkey faunus sent a smirk at Weiss. "That's what friends are for."

Weiss smirked back. "You should always get friends involved."

A text filled with so much malice required their attention and they weren't about to send their friend in alone.

Suddenly, a locker landed directly next to the heiress. After the dust settled, she reached in and grabbed her beloved rapier.

Ruby smiled at the sight. "Thanks for the favor, Pyrrha."

Pyrrha's voice chimed in her ear. "I hope all goes well."

Luckily, the ear pieces came in handy again. After infiltrating the White Fang hideout, Weiss took it upon herself to buy more in case of an emergency.

They were all glad she did.

"I knew somethin' was up with you," Yang glared at Emerald, popping her knuckles to intimidate her.

"Nice observation skills," Emerald retorted sarcastically. "You blonde bimbo."'

Yang felt something inside her snap. It took all her willpower not to pounce. Instead, grit her teeth to stop herself from charging in.

"Don't just stand there!" Cinder barked at her underlings and the grimm. "Kill her!"

Emerald and Mercury charged at them from the command. Behind them, the horde of grimm lunged, snarling and more eager to kill their targets than ever.

"Freezerburn!"

From the call of her leader, Weiss used ice dust to cover the forest ground. After she jumped out of the way, Yang soared through the air and slammed her flaming fist down, creating a dense fog.

* * *

Yang pounded her fists together, effectively pissed off at Emerald. From this, she made it known she'd be the one to fight her.

Emerald seemed happy to oblige.

The blonde cocked her gauntlets and flew at the green-haired girl, easily breaking through her defenses. The agitated blonde landed a couple of punches, but Emerald was surprisingly quick and managed to dodge most of them.

Yang took a few blows herself and the weapon Emerald used made a decent dent in her aura.

It didn't take Yang long to realize she was stuck with an infuriatingly swift opponent.

* * *

Blake charged at Mercury while most of her friends focused on the grimm.

It was easy for Blake to see in the fog and night, which provided her an edge. The blood-faunus created two shadow clones made of stone and sent them to lunge at Mercury. It was hard to see, so he was shocked when there was two of her.

Before he could kick either one, Blake teleported into thin air and appeared behind the boy, kicking his back and launched him forward at the clones.

The stone clones slashed through his open spots while the real Blake focused on behind. Mercury took several blows before he composed himself with a smirk.

Blake tilted her head, wondering what he was planning.

It was then that Mercury began kicking the air, creating white balls of light that shot out of his feet. She had seen him do that once before in his match against Weiss, but she never thought she'd be caught in it.

This caused the fog to completely disappear, eradicating their advantage.

The white orbs circled around her as she whipped her head back and forth, trying to decide which ones would hit her. Some white orbs came tauntingly close then pulled back, while others hit her full force.

She expertly dodged most of them thanks to her reflexes, but Mercury kicked up dozens more. The blood-faunus didn't have time to teleport out of the way since she was dazed from previous hits and took the full force of the impact and fell.

The moonlight was immense, so that illuminated the field, allowing Yang to see her partner's struggle. By that time, she had punched Emerald clear across the field, so she had time to check on her teammates.

After Blake found her footing, her and Yang gazed knowingly at each other across the forest battleground.

Before Mercury stepped in for another hit on his opponent, Yang and Blake glided passed each other and yelled in unison:

"Switch!"

As they soared passed, they high fived each other in silent encouragement.

Yang was in front of Mercury in seconds. She cocked her gauntlets, only for her fist to meet a leg of steel.

* * *

Sun and Neptune made a good fighting duo. After knowing each other for so long, it was no surprise they could read each other's movements like a book.

They were caught off guard when the fog disappeared so suddenly. Sun could have easily used that to his advantage. But they supposed it would die out sooner or later.

Sun used his tail to use his acrobatic ability to the maximum, jumping over grimm and using his nun-chucks. Meanwhile, Neptune finished them off with his trident.

Not too far away from them were Ruby and Weiss, who took comfort in each other's presence. Even though the sounds of battle surrounded them, they were calm and took everything in stride.

The leader dodged a swipe from an ursa, while Weiss stabbed the same one in retaliation. The grimm let out a violent roar in response. To make it a swift kill, Weiss flipped around to allow her leader to decapitate the head.

Not soon after, five more beowolves surrounded the pair. They wiped the sweat off their foreheads. More grimm kept appearing out of nowhere. It was never-ending.

With a plan, Weiss nodded at her leader, silently making it known she'd create a glyph.

Once that was done, Ruby used the recoil on her scythe to hop on the shiny glyph. When she was firmly on it, she sent bullets to rain down on the beasts.

The five grimm were cleared, only for some ursa to replace them. The partners took deep breaths and continued reading each other's movements in battle.

* * *

Blake was having an easier time against Emerald. They were both skilled in trickery, but Blake was more perceptive.

She continuously and vigorously used her clones to dance around her flustered opponent.

To compose herself, Emerald took a deep breath and lunged at each shadow clone that surrounded her by using her acrobatic ability. She wiped out the clones in two seconds flat.

The real Blake hung back, impressed at the display.

 _That can only take you so far._

As Emerald shot at the annoying clones, Blake teleported behind the girl, giving her a heavy kick in her torso.

Emerald sprawled to the ground, but quickly back-flipped in mid-air to regain her balance. Her hands dragged into the ground to lessen the momentum of the impact and she whirled around to stand on her feet with a frown.

"This is getting annoying," Emerald growled and brought out the sickle part of her revolvers.

Before she charged, Blake quickly checked on Yang, who was locked in fierce melee combat with Mercury.

* * *

Yang managed to block several kicks from Mercury, but was caught off guard when he dropped to the ground and rocketed a kick to her chin.

The impact was so devastating it felt like steel collided with bone.

The blonde grunted and flew back forcefully from the hit, only to backflip and land perfectly on her feet. The jab hurt like hell, but her aura took most of the blow. The second she landed, she received several more kicks.

In response, she cocked Ember Celica and used the recoil to break through his defenses. After a few hard punches, Mercury found himself on the ground. Before Yang could land a fatal blow, he shot up more white orbs from his boots.

The white lights caused Yang to step back in a daze. The sudden brightness in the dark night was almost blinding. Mercury used that as an advantage and she took several more blows. In that time, Mercury gathered a horde of the white spheres as they encircled his opponent.

He brought his leg down, causing the orbs to attack Yang from all sides.

Mercury thought he won the battle when it went quiet and was about to go help Emerald, but was shocked to see flames erupt behind him.

"I'm not done with you!"

Yang's eyes warped to a deep crimson. Her whole body radiated a fierce blaze as she pounded her fists together in a fit of rage.

She flew at him with unrivaled speeds and rocketed a punch to his face.

* * *

Three more ursa roared at Weiss and Ruby.

Everyone had been fighting for a while now, so they needed to keep track of their aura extra closely.

The only people who could be relatively okay without aura was Blake and Weiss. That is, only if they used zehn. Still, aura depletion would drain them immensely, even with the extra set of vampire abilities.

Just when the ursa was about to swing at Weiss and Ruby, two glowing copies of Sun blocked the swipe.

Neptune arrived seconds later, hoisting his glaive into an ursa and quickly spun around to lunge the weapon deep within another.

Now that the four had time to breathe, Sun shouted.

"Don't forget why we're here!"

"Right!" Ruby replied.

Ruby and Weiss gazed deep into the darkness, not surprised to see Cinder commanding from the sidelines. Her hand was lifted, most likely meaning she was still controlling the grimm.

The partners nodded reassuringly at each other and bolted to the woman. With Ruby's speed and Weiss' glyphs, they were in front Cinder within seconds.

Cinder's eyebrows furrowed as she lowered her hand, causing a few grimm to disappear. This made it easier on Neptune and Sun. The lesser grimm, the easier the fight.

Yang and Blake were still preoccupied with their opponents to know what their remaining team was doing.

In retaliation, Cinder hurled some fireballs at Ruby and Weiss. However, the heiress used zehn to create an ice shield just in time. It was like an icy wall that stood several feet tall.

The barrier was so frigid that the menacing flames died out on impact. Some of the harsh flames seeped into the ice and never penetrated the steel-like barrier.

To get to the woman, Ruby hopped over the barrier with the recoil on Crescent Rose. Instantly, she charged at Cinder, only to be suddenly halted by flying shards.

Cinder's attack was too quick even for Ruby. She didn't even see it coming. The sharp shards seemingly appeared out of nowhere and struck her repeatedly.

The leader was knocked to the ground with wounds on her side. Some shards cruelly stuck out of her skin. Ruby whimpered in pain and clutched the gashes, finding that they were thickly wet.

"Ruby!"

Before Weiss could even take a step forward to help her, Cinder unleashed raw flames of fury. The unforgiving blaze engulfed the heiress and her barrier. The sound was like an explosion and smoke ensued, which sent her form sprawling to the ground with a yelp.

Cinder directed her attention back to Ruby. "You just had to play the hero."

Ruby writhed on the ground in pain. Despite that, she weakly whimpered. "Y-you can't have her!"

Cinder stepped on Ruby's chest, causing another whimper. She was immobilized from her wounds and she could only glare up at the woman.

With an ominous smirk, Cinder summoned a thin, sharp shard and held it in her grasp. She pinned down Ruby, who was still squirming. When she was relatively still, Cinder hovered the dagger directly above Ruby's chest.

"You talk a big game, brat."

Ruby couldn't register what was happening. There was the blood-curdling scream of her partner…

And then darkness.

* * *

 **It's not supposed to be a secret and you've probs figured it out, but Mercury and Emerald are some of the few humans who know of the vampire race's existence. Yay?**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	44. Lionhearted

It was suddenly dead silent.

The feeling of pain ebbed away in a mere moment.

Instead, it was replaced with numbness.

Ruby wondered why.

She tried to wrap her mind around things, but came up blank.

It was like she was floating around in deep space with no destination.

Why did she feel like this?

Ruby supposed no pain was better than feeling it, but she didn't like the shock of paralysis.

At least pain let her know she was alive.

At last, there was some sort of pressure. It was on her body somewhere. She thought maybe it was her stomach. She couldn't tell.

Relief washed over her. She could feel something.

She allowed herself to relax, although there was this nagging feeling in the back of her mind that she shouldn't. Something kept pressing her to not let this darkness take over.

A sign.

Someone called out to her. They sounded frightened, panicked, and had more prominent concern.

Ruby wanted to return to her blank space, but that voice was persistent.

The more she focused on it, she finally realized…

It was Yang.

"Ruby, Ruby! Come on, sis. Wake up…"

Someone was shaking her. Probably Yang.

Only when Ruby was shaken did she open her eyes, but they swiftly fluttered shut every time. Ruby didn't even know when her eyes would open, but when they would, she could hear random gasps and more voices.

The arms that were wrapped around her trembled. Rivulets splashed on her cheeks that didn't belong to her.

With great effort, Ruby managed to pry open one silver eye. She was groggy and confused when she noticed the blurry colors of her team. Plus two other colors she couldn't recognize.

For some reason, the colors surrounded her.

This couldn't be good.

There was a sudden, overwhelming feeling in Ruby's gut.

Without permission, her eyelids fluttered shut.

She was so exhausted…

She just wanted to rest.

Too many things were happening at one time. She could figure out what was happening later.

Later?

Would there be a later?

Based on this numbness, Ruby wasn't sure if she would wake up after this.

This is how people feel before they die, right?

As a last effort, Ruby forced her lips to part. She struggled to force out one word with her weak lungs.

"Blake…"

The voices got quiet. Ruby couldn't tell if that was a good or a bad thing.

There was something that sounded like the shuffling of grass. Soon, Ruby could feel a new presence close to her.

"-ed anything, Ruby?" that was definitely Blake's worried voice. "-ang in there, okay?"

Just knowing Blake was there was enough for Ruby to continue.

 _Even when... I'm like this... I'm nervous around her..._ Ruby thought. _This is no time to be… shy._

After a shaky breath, Ruby murmured.

"Blake… I'm in love with you..."

Did she say that out loud? Ruby didn't know, everything was too hazy.

Since everything went quiet, Ruby assumed that she indeed confessed to her out loud.

 _At least she knows..._

With that, Ruby allowed herself to slip into the darkness.

* * *

A foreign smell lingered into her nose.

She wasn't used to this kind of scent. She was appalled by it. It smelled like blood, medicine, and drugs mixed together.

It smelled so bad that her face cringed without permission.

Subconsciously, her fingers twitched, an action one of her teammates noticed.

"She's waking up," what sounded like Yang announced.

Gasps and the swift shuffling of feet ensued.

The bed shifted from some extra weight.

Instead of taking her time, Ruby shot up from the foreign matress. When she realized she had control of her body again, she couldn't help herself. That proved to be a bad choice when overwhelming sensations filled her.

The stench of the room hit her full force, not the mention the agonizing pangs in her stomach that followed the quick motion.

Ruby's eyes squeezed shut as she clutched her stomach in pain.

"Take it easy," Yang was there in a heartbeat and rubbed soothing circles on her sister's back. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah," Ruby hoarsely replied.

That was the most unconvincing lie.

Her partner noticed blood seep through the bandages over her torso.

"Ruby," Weiss gently coaxed her leader to lay down. "You reopened your wounds."

"My bad."

"You're hopeless," Weiss gently placed a hand over her leader's stomach. "Just relax, okay?"

The moment her cold hand made skin contact, a shiver spiked through Ruby. To help, Yang pulled down the blankets so Weiss could have an easier time with the process. Only Ruby's bandaged torso was exposed to the chill of the air.

Soon enough, there was a faint white glow emitting from Weiss' hand. She slowly and carefully pushed her own aura into Ruby to seal the wounds.

Ruby bit her lip as she lay there and stared at the ceiling. She was on several painkillers, so she was really out of it.

Ruby just enjoyed the aura transfer. Her and Weiss' aura was connected. Ruby was sure she'd never felt something so gentle and pleasantly cold at the same time as the calm aura trickled into her system.

The ache in her stomach finally dulled, allowing her to breathe more freely.

The process went smoothly and Weiss managed to seal her leader's wounds. However, she wanted her leader to obtain more aura to recover smoothly, so she kept going.

Instead of being upset she opened her wounds, Ruby was glad. That meant the wound was still recent and she hadn't been unconscious for a long time.

Which was true, it had only been a few hours since the encounter.

Currently, it was late at night. Still the same night as the dance.

It was hard to grasp that so much happened in such little time.

"You scared the shit outta us…" the blonde mumbled.

Feeling exhausted, Ruby didn't have the energy to reply. So she just lay there as she enjoyed the pleasantly chilling process. Yang was by her side the whole time and held her hand as she worriedly gazed down at her.

It was then that Ruby glanced to the side and realized there was an IV drip in her arm. She wouldn't have noticed it lodged in her skin if she didn't see it.

She was still in a haze.

It was rather abrupt, but the cool sensation that filled her body halted. Ruby gathered Weiss was done with the transfer. It was disappointing, considering her partner was like an ice pack for her aching wounds.

After the process, Weiss started to raggedly breathe and swayed precariously. Blake, who had been silent this whole time, was there a second later to help keep her upright.

"Easy."

Weiss tried to catch her breath as Blake guided her to rest on a chair.

After Yang spared a glance at Weiss to make sure she was okay, she glimpsed back down at Ruby. To her concern, there was a layer of sweat on her injured sister's forehead. Yang leaned down and dabbed the area with her orange-red scarf. After, she gently pecked her forehead with a grin.

"That's better."

Ruby could only smile up at her sister. Then, she tilted her head at the fatigued girl in the chair.

"Thanks for that, partner."

"Just… get better, okay?"

Ruby nodded and stared at the ceiling. She could tell her teammates were still shaken up from the ordeal. The last thing she wanted was for them to worry about her, so she tried her best to take things slow.

"What happened?" she asked feebly.

"You charged at Cinder," the heiress informed. "And then…"

"You endured many stab wounds," Blake stated and shuddered from the sight when she recalled the scene. "The one in your stomach was the worst."

"And then?" Ruby tiredly asked.

She couldn't remember things clearly. Things were spotty here and there. Almost as if the events had been a strange nightmare she failed to recall properly.

"Blake teleported to you in time," Yang informed and grinned at her partner. "You would've been stabbed in the heart, but Blake managed to throw off the vital spot Cinder aimed for."

Ruby gave Blake a tired smile. "Thanks for saving me, Blake."

"Just get better, alright?" Blake told her.

"Then what happened?" Ruby wanted to remember things clearly. Not knowing everything that happened made her unsettled.

The three girls' eyes widened at the question.

They knew exactly what happened after that.

The daring confession.

"Uhhhh," Yang muttered.

The aristocrat cut in. "We used aura transfer," she glanced at Yang. "After healing you as much as we could, we rushed you back to Beacon."

It was obvious Blake didn't want to bring it up. Maybe because of the state Ruby was in. There was a time and a place for talking about those kinds of things and now wasn't it.

 _Looks like she doesn't remember,_ Blake thought. _The confession was a surprise. I don't know what to think about that…_

The day Blake and Ruby met was a strange one.

Blake never gave the eccentric girl much thought.

Despite Ruby being a tad younger, she proved to be wise beyond her years.

She was a kind and caring person.

Not only that, but she'd been there for Blake through thick and thin.

Even when Blake was selfish enough not to come to her with her problems.

When she was selfish enough to not tell Ruby anything.

Selfish enough to lie.

Despite knowing these things, Ruby was there for her.

No matter what.

Every. Single. Time.

Eventually, Blake came to trust her enough even with her well-hidden secret of being a vampire.

Even then, Ruby treated her the same.

Like she was just another normal human.

Her teammate.

Her friend.

"Thanks for saving me, guys," Ruby said softly. "D-did _she_ get away?"

Yang squeezed Ruby's hand. "Yeah…" disappointment dripped in her voice. "She probably didn't expect her ambush to be countered with an ambush. What a shame."

"Such poor planning on her part," Weiss crossed her arms and glared out the window. "Mercury and Emerald ran, too. I swear if they're in class…"

"I highly doubt they will be. Not after that," Blake chimed. "They're probably in hiding and plotting their next move."

"At least we know one thing," Ruby weakly coughed a few times. "Cinder was in control of the grimm."

The blood-faunus brushed her fingers through Ruby's bangs. "Don't talk, okay? Save your energy."

Ruby meekly sighed and accepted Blake's words. Instead, she slowly shut her eyes and focused on listening to the conversation. The three smiled, knowing their leader was trying her best to recover. It looked like she was asleep when her face was peaceful.

"Are you gonna sleep or try to listen?" Yang asked, wondering if the three should leave the room.

"I'm listening…" Ruby replied quietly. "Go on."

Seeing Ruby in this fragile state made Weiss frustrated and angry at herself more than ever.

"Ruby, I'm sorry for being an awful partner," the heiress apologized. "Don't talk, just listen."

Ruby bit her tongue and listened to the lecture.

"The reason you're hurt right now is because I dragged you into this mess," Weiss admitted. "What I did wasn't fair to you or the team."

"Weiss," Yang said sternly. "You know we want to help more than anything, so don't even think about blaming yourself."

"Still," the heiress went on. "If I went alone, she wouldn't be in this condition."

There was a faint squeeze on Yang's hand, leading her to believe Ruby didn't blame her partner at all for this. Not in the slightest. Even when Ruby was this drained, she still fought.

Despite not agreeing with her sister's words, Blake understood where she was coming from.

However, she knew more than anyone what would've happened if Weiss confronted Cinder alone.

"You're probably right about that," Blake agreed. "But you're forgetting something. If you went alone you'd definitely be dead. She can control grimm and had Mercury and Emerald. There would be no other outcome. She's too powerful. She came with one purpose. To kill you."

"Yeah…" Ruby murmured. "Me being in a bed is better than you being dead."

"Heh," the blonde chuckled. "That rhymed."

Her comment earned a heavy sigh from Weiss, but she did agree with her leader. "I suppose you're right."

Yang beamed a grin and rubbed circles on top of Ruby's limp palm. "Of course we are, princess."

"Damn her…" Blake couldn't stop thinking about the dangerous woman's intent and stared at Weiss. "She almost exposed the vampire race to Sun and Neptune and went after you because you're a pureblood."

Weiss grit her teeth. "Of course Cinder wants my power," venom leaked in her voice. "They all do."

If a vampire kills a pureblood, the murderer can attain the power.

She wasn't surprised in the least. In the past, the vampire sisters had endured many ambushes from people who craved that power. After all these years, the attacks had grown to be more of an annoyance since the sisters had grown to be strong. Eventually, the attackers were no match for them.

Deep down, the vampires knew this would happen sooner or later. Because of what Weiss was, her friends suffered the consequences.

"Do you..." Yang was scared to ask. "Do you think she's a pureblood, too?"

"I doubt Cinder is," Weiss stated firmly. "The only purebloods left in existence are my family and Winchester. At least that we know of. However, I won't deny it is a small possibility."

"Cinder is more than likely an aristocrat like me," Blake inferred. "But I'm not sure."

Yang glided her fingers through Ruby's bangs. "Are you still listening, sis?" she had been quiet and hadn't moved in a while.

Ruby smiled from the soothing contact. Her voice was very fatigued. "Yeah…"

"We can talk about this later," Yang suggested to her team. "She needs rest."

She received nods of agreement. Knowing she needed sleep, her teammates were quiet. Silently, Weiss grabbed a chair and sat down. After Blake turned off the lights, she sat in her own chair next to her sister in the pitch-black room.

Meanwhile, Yang crawled into the bed with Ruby. There wasn't another chair and it'd been awhile since she cuddled with her sister, anyways. The bed sheets were thin, too thin. The extra body heat would be beneficial.

With a protective arm around her baby sister, Yang pulled her close, glad that her breathing was in a deep rhythm.

Yang kept telling herself that Ruby wasn't going anywhere.

She was safe and sound.

* * *

 **There have been many reviews stating that the main couples in this story are official. I don't wanna be 'that guy' but the main couples aren't together** _ **together**_ **. At least not yet. Freezerburn and ladybug just went to the dance together. That doesn't make them girlfriends. I ship them as much as the next person, but that's not how this'll go down. Sorry not sorry.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	45. Shattered

**Thank you for the milestone of 400 follows! It has been dandy so far so thanks for the love. We're just getting started!**

* * *

The next morning came slowly for team RWBY. More than anything, they were happy to see Ruby was as chipper as ever after a good night's sleep. Her once morbid injuries didn't slow her down in the slightest, although she was still in bed.

Dawn had arrived an hour ago. Since her team was worried, they didn't get much sleep last night, but their leader slept like a baby because of the medicines.

The sun's gentle rays seeped through the only window in the pure white room. Overnight, the nurse visited every now and then to check up on them. By this point, the IV in Ruby's arm had been removed and she was ordered strict bed rest.

The four were still in the infirmary, waiting for the news if Ruby could be discharged. Her injuries still ached, but the pain was a far cry compared to last night. Slight pangs remained along with the occasional sting. Her skin was tightly sewed together unlike the gaping hole it was just several hours ago.

"I can't wait to get outta here!" Ruby bounced up and down while sat up in bed. "Blake, did you get the cookies?"

Blake smirked and slyly pulled them out of her stocking, an action that made Ruby blush.

"Of course I did, how else would you recover?"

The blood-faunus tossed the bag to her leader, who expertly caught it with glee.

Ruby instantly devoured the cookies like a vacuum while her teammates watched in amusement.

"Whvut?"

"Glad to see you're doing better," Yang said. "That's just like my baby sis to recover so fast."

Seeing how much better Ruby was doing almost made them forget the horror that struck their hearts the night before.

The doctor walked in the room after hearing the comment. "She can be-" he perked an eyebrow at the sight of the 'illegal' food.

"Eheheheh," the leader meekly laughed and held out the last cookie. "Want one?"

The doctor chuckled when he noticed cookie crumbs were all around her mouth. "I'm good."

"We're sorry, doc," Yang apologized. "She _really_ wanted her cookies."

"No, it's okay," he assured. "Everyone knows hospital food tastes like shit."

Weiss was caught off guard from the unprofessional behavior, but dismissed it, knowing it was worth it if her leader could have her favorite treat.

"Thanks, doc!" Ruby beamed and popped the last delectable cookie in her mouth.

The heiress sighed and grabbed a napkin. She cleaned the corners of Ruby's lips. "Honestly…" she breathed. "Try not to make a mess, will you?"

"Oops," Ruby giggled.

The doctor flipped through his clipboard and then glanced at Ruby. "Her injuries were deep, so we want to make sure the stitches and wounds won't reopen. She can leave tomorrow."

"Awwww," Ruby whined. "But-"

"Ruby," Weiss cut her off. "Take a day off. It won't hurt anyone."

"Exactly," the doctor agreed. "Now, shouldn't you three head to class?"

Everyone on the team's jaws dropped. They had completely forgotten about their classes. One moment, they were enjoying the dance and the next they were fighting a dangerous criminal.

Dozens of grimm.

And their own classmates.

That seemed miniscule compared to attending a lecture.

Ruby suddenly looked downcast, something Weiss didn't miss.

"You guys go on ahead," the heiress said, addressing her teammates. "I'll stay with Ruby."

Ruby perked up from the statement, but thought her partner shouldn't stay. "But Weeeeeeissss, you need to go to class, too!"

The leader knew Weiss was studious, even more so than herself. The heiress missing class was unheard of; the mere thought made Ruby shocked.

"Nonsense," the vampire dismissed. "We all know how you would feel if we left you alone."

Weiss knew her leader is a social person, though a tad awkward. Leaving Ruby alone while she recovered didn't sit well with her. After everything Ruby had done for her, Weiss figured now was as good a time as any to repay the favor.

Yang smiled from her words, knowing Ruby hated being isolated.

The blonde decided to leave to her white-haired teammate. If there was someone she could leave in her sister's care, it was Weiss.

Yang wrapped her arm around Blake's and nudged her. "We'll leave her to you, princess."

Yang and Blake headed to the door after casting worried glances at their leader.

The blood-faunus poked her head in the room before leaving. "We'll be back soon."

The doctor took his leave as well and slowly shut the door to give the teammates some privacy. Ruby was left sitting up in bed with a pout and Weiss sat next to her.

"I don't want you to miss class."

"Ruby," the heiress chided. "You took care of me when I was sick. It's my turn to do the same, okay?"

Ruby couldn't believe how kind her teammate was being- well, she could. It was just difficult to think that someone who was so cold could be so warm.

The leader lunged forward and wrapped her arms around Weiss' shoulders. "Aw, Weissy! Fine, you can stay. Thank you."

"Dunce… just get better," her hands slowly slid up Ruby's back and lightly hugged her.

The embrace was comforting. It was strikingly like Yang's touch. That is, if she wasn't crushing and suffocating Weiss. It was like one of her rare, loving hugs. Like a warm blanket.

Ruby's embrace was friendlier, while Yang's made her feel more protected and safe.

It made her feel like she could take on the world alongside her.

Made her forget all her worries.

Even though Ruby was also a good hugger, Weiss preferred the blonde's lemonade scent over her leader's strawberry aroma.

"How could I not get better with you here?" the leader questioned.

Weiss pulled away, a faint giggle escaped her lips. "Would you like me to sneak anything in here for you?"

Ruby gasped, her lips slightly parted at the epiphany-

"Anything but cookies?"

"Uhhh," the leader whined. "Then no, I'm not hungry anyways."

"Are you sure?" Weiss asked. "I guess I can get more cookies, even though you should be eating something _healthy_ for once."

"Yeah," Ruby replied. "I'm good. Are you?"

"What do you mean?" Weiss tilted her head curiously.

"I mean…" Ruby leaned into her ear. "Do you need uh, blood or anything?"

Ruby felt awkward asking the question, but she was curious. She was pretty sure she hadn't seen her vampire teammate drink blood tablets since last night and wondered if she was deprived or not. Losing control of her urges wouldn't be a good thing in this setting.

"No," Weiss' lips quirked into a smile, grateful her leader was thinking of her needs even at a time like this. "Blake and I had some while you were unconscious."

"Oh, good," Ruby accepted the statement, but then remembered something. "Wait a second… why are you here?"

"What do you mean why am I here?" Weiss sounded offended. "You're my partner, dolt."

"No," the leader shook her head. "I mean why are you here? Blake told me you're scared of hospitals. Since we're in the infirmary, ya know, that's kinda the same thing."

Weiss seemed perplexed by her leader's words. Blake had told her about her fear, but she didn't mind. She trusted her sister's judgement. Blake must've trusted Ruby enough to tell her the secret. In which case, that didn't make her angry, just caught off guard, but not in a bad way.

It was an irrational fear that had developed after her first hospital visit when she was a child.

The heiress was forced to stay the night alone in the hospital room after her old mansion burned down.

After _that_ night.

It was dark and quiet. Frightening for a child. She wasn't used to not being with her family.

But right now, Ruby needed her, and she'd be damned if she left her isolated like she was all those years ago.

"It's okay now," Weiss assured. "I'm not so afraid of them anymore. Besides, you're my partner, so I'm not leaving even if you begged."

Ruby's lips slipped into a small smile. "Thanks, Weiss. That means a lot."

"Whatever," the heiress wasn't used to being thanked. "Just heal properly so we can get out of here."

Ruby mocked a salute. "Aye, aye!"

"You know," the heiress scooted closer. "We're all worried for you. Especially last night."

Ruby lowered her head. "I didn't mean to."

"I know," Weiss said. "It was frightening. Blake had the most shocking reaction. Normally she's so calm and collected, and I thought Yang would lose it."

"Wh-what do you mean? What happened?"

Ruby was shocked by the possibility of Blake losing her composure, or even her poker face for that matter. The only time she witnessed Blake lose it was when Weiss got sick from eating human food. Which was understandable, considering her sister was in life-threatening danger.

That meant…

If Blake lost her self-control when it came to Weiss… and she presumably did for Ruby...

Was Ruby also special to Blake?

The thought caused butterflies to flutter in her stomach.

"We thought you died for a second there…" Weiss said after a shaky breath. "Of course, Yang was more terrified than anyone, but Blake…" her voice wavered. "Ruby, I've known her as long as I can remember and I've never seen her like _that_. It was like she was broken. Like something inside her shattered."

Ruby could only weigh her words. Silver eyes were the size of dinner plates.

The heiress cleared her throat. "Don't do that ever again. You really did, as Yang put it, 'scared the shit out of us.'"

Ruby gripped the blankets tightly. "We'll go in with a solid plan from now on."

" _If_ there's a next time, but yes," the heiress agreed. "We can't charge in."

The heiress thought it was partly her fault Ruby was in this condition, but she didn't want to upset her leader again by blaming herself. Judging from Ruby's conflicted expression, she was still processing her words.

Suddenly, Weiss' scroll vibrated, so she pulled it out of her pocket. A tiny smile perked on her lips when she was pleased to see who the caller was.

From the smile, Ruby knew it could only be one person. "Is it Winter?"

"Yes," the heiress was hesitant to pick up, not wanting to interrupt the conversation.

It was rude to just ignore her teammate in this condition-

"What're you waiting for?" Ruby asked. "Answer it."

Receiving her leader's permission erased her doubts. After pressing the button, she answered the video call.

"Okay, dolt."

"Hello, Weiss and Ruby!" Winter greeted with a simple nod. "I wanted to check to see how things are going," her eyes studied their surroundings, finding the room foreign. "Where are you?"

"The infirmary," Weiss informed. Winter's lips slightly parted, but she cut her off. "Let us fill you in on a few things."

Ruby and Weiss switched off telling the eldest the story of what happened the night before. Not a detail remained, besides Ruby's confession to Blake. That was personal and Weiss didn't want to overstep her boundaries. If Ruby could recall it properly, she would probably want to keep the confession private.

"I'm glad you're okay," Winter said. "About this Cinder woman..."

"Do you know her?" Ruby suddenly asked.

"She's in multiple White Fang reports," Winter revealed. "Since I am temporarily in charge of the company, information like this reaches my desk. From the files I've received, I've concluded she's extremely dangerous."

"That's why you need to tighten security," Weiss advised. "My guess is that she's going to try to kill off our pureblood line. She's already initiated her plans and attempted to kill me."

"That was my inference as well," the pureblood stated. "Be careful. Who knows if she will go after you again. She's unpredictable. She is not an idle threat."

The mere thought of Cinder returning for revenge made Ruby and Weiss' stomach churn. That horrified them.

If Cinder came back, would they be prepared?

The teammates shared an uncertain look before breaking out into smiles.

For some reason, they took comfort in each other and their worries ebbed away.

As long as they were a team, they felt like everything would be okay.

Winter went on. "Do not concern yourself with me. Qrow is by my side and you have your team and the academy as allies. If an attack like that happens again, you will have prepared reinforcements."

From the mention of his name, Ruby perked up. "How's he doing?"

Winter ran her fingers through her bangs and sighed. "He's Qrow."

Ruby accepted the answer and nodded in understanding. "Makes sense."

"Winter," Weiss called. "You need to take extra caution from now on. Tighten security. Lock all the windows. Install new alarms, you understand?"

A feeble chuckle almost slipped out Winter's lips. Leave it to her younger sister to lecture her.

"I will take the measures necessary," Winter reassured. "As I said, I have Qrow, who's- believe it or not- somewhat dependable. I'll inform mother and father of what occurred last night. This is something critical to their knowledge…"

The pureblood trailed off, deep in thought.

Weiss sensed something was bothering her eldest sister. She called out to her in concern.

"Winter?"

Winter's voice lowered and her normally kind eyes narrowed in anger.

"The greedy wench..."

"Winter?" Weiss asked. "What's wrong?"

The pureblood tightened her fists until her knuckles turned white. In an instant, her once blue eyes warped to a deep shade of crimson.

Weiss had never seen her sister so conflicted before. She was taken aback. Even Ruby shared an anxious look with her.

"Winter?" Weiss' voice raised in alarm.

"No one threatens my little sisters," Winter seethed.

Her crimson eyes added to the daunting appearance. The determination swirling in the pools of blood caused the teammates to lean back in astonishment.

"She's not getting away with this."

* * *

 **Ohhhhh, a pissed off Winter! Don't get close! She'll bite ;D**

 **Anywho, I'm about to go back home (which is why this is posted so early in the morning) until RTX! If you want to meet up, PM me! I'm cosplaying all three days.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	46. I Have a Suggestion

**Sorry there was no chapter last week. As you know, RTX 2017 happened (duh). I was a tad busy. If you wanna see my cosplay, check it out under the RWBY subreddit. The name is IceQueenCat.**

* * *

"Blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah…"

So far, it had been a boring lecture. Which wasn't surprising, considering the person teaching was professor Port. Yang and Blake had been in the lecture for a few minutes. At first, Blake was paying attention to the man, but then he started telling tales of his bravery.

These stories would have nothing to do with future tests, so Blake was bored out of her mind.

Out of boredom, the aristocrat glanced at her partner, who was taking notes. Blake's cat ear flickered in amusement; it wasn't very common for Yang to take notes.

 _Especially_ in Port's class.

A wry grin graced her lips when she thought of the reason. Yang knew more than anyone on how hellbent Weiss was when taking notes.

Weiss would make sure to get every word, down to the letter- the tiniest detail. Even when it was just another one of Port's stories, she treated them as critical information to her knowledge. She was convinced there was some underlying theme Port wanted to teach with each story, so she was sure to write down her thoughts as well.

Yang was more than likely jotting notes down for Weiss.

Blake's smug grin didn't waver as she stared at Yang, who was blissfully unaware of the kick she was getting from the sight. Her partner's tongue stuck out ever-so-slightly in concentration. An idiosyncrasy her partner occasionally did that Blake grew fond of.

What Yang was doing was teamwork at its finest. Thoughtful, even.

If Blake didn't think her sister was special to her partner, she definitely did now.

Eventually, watching Yang take became less entertaining in this boring atmosphere.

In disinterest, Blake placed a hand under her chin after a yawn. She was tired, considering the ride last night. But school has no bounds when it came to weekdays.

Blake scanned the classroom, hoping something else could ease her boredom. Not surprisingly, she noticed Mercury and Emerald's seats were vacant.

 _They better not come back,_ the blood-faunus hissed at the thought of them. _Did they join Beacon just to kill Weiss for her pureblood power?_ she doubted it, but it was possible. _It seems like so much effort. They went through so much just for that and they failed._

 _I wouldn't give up that easily if it was something I desired,_ Blake concluded. _Greedy people like her don't know when to give up. Cinder might be plotting some alternative. Even as we sit here…_

Things seemed so normal in the classroom. Some students were taking notes, others sleeping, secretly snacking, doodling, sipping on their drinks…

Port was running his mouth like any other lecture he normally does.

Yet, the students were blissfully unaware of the dangers of the real world. Unaware that their precious classmates came so close to death just last night.

Making light of the situation would only serve to cause panic among the system. And the team wasn't even positive that Cinder would come back, so they didn't want to make the fragile situation worse.

A smirk formed on Blake's lips. _They'd have to go through me to get to her,_ an image of Weiss grinning flashed throughBlake's mind. To her, it was a national treasure to see her sister genuinely smile. She would do anything to protect her.

Casually, the aristocrat glanced behind her. Her determined gaze trailed to another vacant seat.

 _Cardin is gone, too? I can't tell if that's a good or a bad thing._

On one hand, Winchester being gone was a load off the vampire sisters' shoulders. He had beaten both in fights. Almost killed Weiss and knocked Blake off her feet without breaking a sweat. He's proven to be dangerous.

On the other, he's gone the same time as Mercury and Emerald. That was undoubtedly suspicious. A fact strange enough to cause Blake's eyebrows to raise in thought. She stared at the vacant seat, her eyes unable to pry away.

 _Are they working together?_

Weiss was almost killed for her power by Cinder. She was also almost killed by Cardin.

Cinder was greedy, while Cardin was cocky.

At the time Weiss and Cardin faced off, it didn't seem like he was going to finish her off strictly for her power. He seemed to genuinely enjoy the fight so much that he bathed in it. He was arrogant and knew that his own power could best her. From Blake's view, he just wanted someone to toy with. Someone who was willing.

From his individual actions, Blake doubted Cardin was working with Cinder. If anything, Cinder would try to kill Cardin since he was a pureblood.

 _It's probably just some weird coincidence,_ Blake concluded. _Maybe he heard about the fight last night and is hiding for now. If so, he's a little smarter than he lets on… the bastard._

Blake couldn't stop thinking about the night before. One moment, they were dancing the night away, the next they were fighting a greedy vampire, two of her loyal followers and dozens of grimm.

The result... Blake recalled Ruby's state when she was bloodied on the forest floor.

Seeing Ruby in a pool of blood felt like fierce claws pierced her heart. The sharp talons squeezed, causing her chest to tighten. Her stomach dropped and anxiety overwhelmed her again. She was experiencing the same feelings she had several hours ago.

She hadn't felt like that since she witnessed her parents' murders.

It was like that scene happened all over again.

Tiny rivulets almost trailed down her cheeks. Which caught her off guard, considering she didn't even feel her eyes pool with water. She quickly wiped her eyes and composed herself again, placing her hand under her chin to feign interest in Port's lecture.

Did she almost cry? She hadn't done that for years. She was sure her all her tears had dried up. Like she didn't have any to spare. She thought she forgot how to cry.

But she almost did all over again at the mere thought of Ruby being hurt.

No matter how hard she tried to avoid it, the feelings from last night kept rushing back. The scene of Ruby lying in a pool of her own blood.

As if the image wasn't enough, she carved the daring confession her leader managed to choke out into her mind.

Blake swallowed dryly as she recalled the memory. It must've been so hard for Ruby to even suck in a measly breath of air, and yet, she formed words coherent enough to confess. Even when she had several agonizing stab wounds.

Her leader truly must've thought she was dying in that moment.

The confession was clearly important to Ruby that she wanted her confession to be her 'last words.'

No doubt her feelings ran deep.

So deep that she forced the words out even in that torturous moment.

That sinking feeling returned. Ruby forgot about confessing since she woke up. More than likely due to shock.

For some reason, that bothered Blake.

She had to do something with the new information. The question was what?

She couldn't do anything now, so she pondered if she liked Ruby romantically or not.

Blake liked the fact that Ruby liked her. It was flattering. She'd never been confessed to before, but was the feeling mutual? The blood-faunus' cat ear flicked, displaying her inner confliction.

If she was honest, Blake wasn't sure. She'd never had a boyfriend or girlfriend for that matter, so she wasn't familiar with these feelings. At least not personally. She'd read plenty of romance novels, but most of them were centered on lust rather than pure love.

She didn't think she lusted for her leader. The mere thought made her feel guilty. Ruby was innocent and adorable, not someone who would even think of such things.

Blake didn't know what this feeling was. She didn't want to see Ruby hurt ever again, but she also felt that way about her entire team. She didn't know how to differentiate these feelings.

Was Ruby special to her?

The short answer was yes, Blake agreed with herself.

But the term 'special' carried so much weight and variations. She was confused at picking which combinations. Was Ruby a dear friend? A best friend? Someone she could always go to? Perhaps more than a friend? These thoughts caused a whirlwind of confusion to rush over her.

Now Blake was determined to figure out what her leader means to her.

Since Ruby confessed in such a dire situation, she must've felt strongly for Blake. For a while now. That much was certain. Was that why Ruby was always willing to help her out?

Thinking about Ruby made her feel warm and fuzzy inside...

Either way, she owed Ruby a reply, even though her leader forgot about the confession. Blake felt it was her duty for closure. She was sure Weiss and Yang would appreciate a reply as well.

There was a slight nudge in her side.

"What's up, kitten?" Yang asked. "You're blushing."

Blake had been too wrapped up in her thoughts to feel her cheeks flush. She hastily covered her face and turned away. "J-just thinking about some things."

The blonde's mischievous smirk grew as she scooted closer to her teammate. "Rubes' confession?"

Yang knew longer than anyone for how long Ruby liked Blake. The first day Blake and Ruby met, her sister acted like a total schoolgirl around her, even when she was just talking about Blake. Yang knew Ruby had an innocent crush on her, but she didn't realize her feelings would become 'love.'

Yang shuddered at the thought. She didn't like watching her baby sister grow up, but of all people, Ruby was in love with Blake.

No matter how hard the blonde tried, she couldn't think anything badly of her partner.

She supposed it was good that Ruby fell for someone as wonderful as Blake.

In fact, she'd like no one else.

"I can't believe she forgot," Blake whispered.

"Remember, she almost died," Yang reminded, saying that made her frightened all over again. "She was probably in shock."

"I figured," Blake replied. "Don't worry, Yang."

The blonde had an ear-to-ear grin. "I won't. You'll handle this, I trust ya."

Both realized they were referring to the predicament. Giving Ruby a reply, trusting the team, and forging closer bonds.

Blake stifled a smile, her voice in a low murmur so the teacher couldn't hear. "Shouldn't you be taking notes for Weiss?"

Yang rubbed a finger through her wild hair, looking troubled. "Was it that obvious?"

"Painfully so," Blake said.

"Nothin' gets by you, huh?" Yang was relieved it was just Blake teasing her. "Tell ya what-"

The loud chime of the school bell reverberated throughout the academy. Class was over already. Without another word, the two started packing along with their classmates. It was finally time to visit their leader in the infirmary. She was priority, everything else was a distraction.

"Oho!" Port boomed. "Timed that one poorly. The stunning conclusion will have to wait until next time!"

Before Blake and Yang could leave, Neptune and Sun made their way over to them. They could tell they were in a rush, so they cut to the point.

"Sup, guys," Sun's monkey tail was waving back and forth. Blake guessed he was in a chipper mood from the display. "How's Ruby doing?"

"She's better than expected," Yang happily replied. "She'll be discharged tomorrow."

"Awesome!" Sun exclaimed. "Do you think we can go see her?"

Neptune on the other hand was more sheepish and he dipped his head slightly. "We feel bad for what happened. We want to make it up to her somehow."

Blake and Yang glanced at each other in confusion. Everyone involved with the incident last night seemed to blame their own selves for what happened to Ruby. Even though it was really no one's fault.

"She definitely doesn't blame you," Yang stated. "She would never blame anyone, that's just how she is.

Sun wasn't satisfied from the reply. "Is there anything we can do for her?"

"If you want to cheer her up, I have a suggestion," Blake suddenly chirped.

"Yeah?" that made Sun perk up. "What is it?"

Yang's eyebrow rose in suspicion as she watched Blake whisper something in Sun and Neptune's ears.

"It's that simple?" Neptune was puzzled from the proposal.

"Well…" the blood-faunus shrugged. "She _is_ Ruby. She wouldn't like it if you blamed yourselves."

"Ok!" Sun exclaimed with determination. "We'll get on it!"

"Seeya guys around," Neptune waved goodbye.

As they turned around, Neptune wrapped his arm around Sun's shoulders. The partners walked away with purpose, determined to make it up to Ruby and to make her feel better.

By this point, the classroom was empty. Even the professor was absent.

Yang and Blake swiftly walked out the door.

Curiosity peaked in Yang's mind. What was her partner planning?

The two wandered through the halls and headed to the infirmary. Like they were precious, Yang tucked her notes into her chest.

"Say, kitten," the blonde broke the comfortable silence. "What'd you tell them?"

Blake knew for a fact what she told Neptune and Sun to do would make Ruby feel better.

Blake's smirk grew. "You'll see."

Yang left it at that, allowing her partner do as she pleased in a display of the utmost trust.

* * *

 **Blake doesn't know what these emotions are. She's oblivious to this kind of thing. She's never experienced this, so she has to take some time to figure things out.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	47. Power to Safeguard

"Guess who's back~"

Ruby and Weiss heard the school bell chime a few minutes ago, so they figured their remaining teammates would be back soon.

Ruby was still in a hospital robe and resting in her assigned bed. Meanwhile, Weiss was sitting next to her partner. The two had been conversing until they heard Yang's trademark boisterous voice.

"Yang!" Ruby beamed and noticed her other teammate in tow. "Blake!"

"How was class?" Weiss asked the pair.

"It was okay," the blonde hesitantly said and shuddered from the mere thought.

Weiss gave her a skeptical look.

"What?" Yang asked. "It was _Port's_ class. Talk about boooooooooring."

"Don't worry," Blake chimed as she walked over to address her sister. "She took notes."

Yang held up her notebook with a wide grin. "Right here!"

"You did?" Weiss asked, perplexed. "Is this true?"

Blake nodded. "Believe it or not."

"Wow…" the heiress trailed off.

Most of the time, Yang dozed off during class, which would earn her countless flicks to the forehead by Weiss. The heiress was just impressed her teammate had even managed to stay _awake_. Especially since she was trapped in one of Port's infamous dull lectures.

"Heads up!"

The vampire had been too caught up in her own thoughts to hear the warning. Apparently, Yang didn't notice Weiss wasn't paying attention, so the notebook slammed into her face.

"Gah!" Weiss yelped and took on a chiding tone. "Yang!"

"I said heads up," the blonde shrugged off, not at all bothered by her precious teammate's anger.

Casually, she joined the rest of her team and stood next to her sister's bed right behind the seething heiress.

Weiss' eye twitched from irritation as she angrily swiped the notebook from her lap and stuffed it in her backpack. "Bumbling brute."

"You're welcome," Yang said sternly and casted a worried gaze down at her sister. "How ya holdin' up, Rubes?"

"Great!" Ruby chirped. "Weiss is a good caretaker."

"The doctor is, I hardly did anything," Weiss corrected.

"Aw, princess!" Yang cooed, something that made Weiss more irritated. "There's no need to be embarrassed."

"Who said I was embarrassed?" Weiss retorted. "I'm simply giving credit where it's due."

"And modest, too," the blonde observed. "Rubes, what the hell have you done to her?"

"Excuse me!?" Weiss exclaimed, sounding almost offended. "Are you implying that I can't be nice?"

"That wasn't what I meant and you know it," Yang replied.

"Suuuuure it wasn't-"

As the two bickered, their chiding remarks faded into the background. Blake simply stared at the scene. She was proud of how far her team has come. If Ruby was placed in the infirmary at the beginning of the year, the blood-faunus was positive Weiss wouldn't even be in the room due to her previous fear.

Despite the teasing yells, Ruby smiled at the bickering pair. "It hasn't even been a minute and they're already at each other's throats."

Instead of the brutal arguments Weiss and Yang used to engage in to hurt each other's feelings, now they were more about poking fun. Harmless quarrels that were amusing to watch on the sidelines.

The silent pair, Blake and Ruby, watched Yang jokingly slap her hand on Weiss' back. The mischievous smirk on Weiss' face told them she was up to something. Before there was time to react, a block of ice encased Weiss' back and stuck up, which trapped Yang's hand before she could pull away.

Yang tried to recoil, but her hand was frozen in midair. The block of ice connected to the vampire's back and shot up to reach the appendage.

"Wh-what the?!"

Yang was too shocked to realize what just happened as she stared at the gleaming block of ice.

Satisfied with her reaction, Weiss smirked knowingly. "I told you not to do that again."

"Then I'll just do this!"

Yang tried to yank away, so the action shook both her and Weiss rather violently.

Weiss held on to the blankets and leaned over to get a proper grip. "Stop it, brute!"

"You should'a thought that this would happen before you did this weird thing!" Yang countered.

Yang moved her arm to make pry Weiss off the bed, making her stand. There was a whimper of displeasure from the heiress. She should have remembered Yang was stronger than she'd originally thought.

But right now, Weiss was curious more than anything for what Yang had planned.

The blonde tried to shape her hand in a fist, but it was frozen solid. Not even her fingers could twitch. That's when she decided to use her aura to heat it up, causing steam to rise.

"What're you doing?!" the heiress yelped.

"You didn't think I'd stay like this forever, did you?" Yang slyly grinned. "I'm a portable heater, remember?"

Ruby sighed. "You guys are hopeless."

Weiss and Yang just stood there, blatantly annoyed with each other. All they could do was wait for the ice to melt.

"If you wanted to be attached to me, you could'a just said so," Yang wryly smiled.

"As if," Weiss crossed her arms with a huff.

Despite her irked reaction, a slight blush crept on her cheeks.

Since her sister was now off the bed, Blake took this as her chance to sit next to Ruby. By now, Ruby was propped up on her pillows and beamed a smile when her teammate scooted close.

"Are you sure you're feeling better?" Blake asked, concern laced in those amber eyes.

"Yeah, I promise," Ruby nodded. Not only that, but she was ecstatic Blake was genuinely worried for her. Maybe that was selfish, but Ruby didn't mind. "I just want to leave this place."

"Tomorrow," the aristocrat reminded. "It's just one more day. We can't have you opening your wounds again."

"It was one time," Ruby whined. "Just once!"

"One time is too many," Blake reminded. "Don't move so much."

"You got it, doctor Blake," Ruby gave her a small smile.

She tried her best to reassure her teammate. Ruby recalled her partner's earlier words. That Blake was "shattered" when faced with Ruby's previous condition.

Blake returned the grin full force, glad that Ruby was doing much better. She noticed her leader didn't need the IV wire anymore and took comfort in that fact. The bandages over her abdomen were pure white, indicating blood hadn't seeped through and reopened her wounds.

The blood-faunus was about to speak, but her scroll started to vibrate.

Hesitantly, she pulled out her scroll. From the caller ID, she smiled. "Quiet please. It's mom and dad."

Yang and Weiss immediately stopped shouting at each other and gave her their full attention. The two nodded in a silent truce and leaned over the bed where Blake and Ruby were located.

Turns out, no traces of the ice or steam remained. Only a small puddle remained on the floor. The heiress found it impressive that Yang could melt her steel-like icy zehn so quickly.

"Yes!" Yang pumped her fist in the air. "Mama and papa Schnee!"

"I think she's more excited than we are," Blake commented.

Ruby placed a gentle hand on her back. "You should hurry and answer it before it stops ringing."

With permission, Blake swiped the screen to answer the video call.

"Hello~" an image of the female pureblood sang. "How are you, Ruby?"

"Um," Ruby wasn't expecting that to be the first question. "I'm all good now, thanks for asking!"

Wilhelmina smiled from the reply. "I'm glad. I'm calling to see how things are. Winter informed us of last night's events."

Yang cheerfully cut in. "Besides that shitstorm, things are going well. Ruby will be discharged tomorrow."

"Yang!" Weiss chided. "You're talking to my mother."

The least Yang could do was show her a little respect...

"Oh, right, my bad," the blonde said. "Hi, mama Schnee! Sorry I forgot to say 'hi' before!"

Weiss audibly face palmed. Why was she expecting anything else?

"Hello to you, Yang!" Wilhelmina replied with amusement. There was no hint she was bothered by her casualness in the slightest. "Now," she glanced at her daughters. "Your father wants to tell you something," she tilted the camera to angle it at the male pureblood.

"Wilford," his wife called. "You're on."

"Your team is safe. All of you are," Wilford said sternly.

The four were caught off guard from the statement.

"Ummm, what does that mean?" Yang asked.

Out of vexation, Wilhelmina pinched the bridge of her nose. "He went overboard again."

Blake and Weiss groaned. Like this was the thousandth time their father did something like this.

"Mom," Weiss said suspiciously. "What did he do this time?"

Wilford kept his poker face. "I hired people around Vale and in the academy to ensure your safety."

"Oh no…" Blake mumbled almost inaudibly.

"Holy crap," Yang muttered. "That must've cost a lot of money."

Of course it did, the owners of the Schnee Dust company have a lot of money to spare and Wilford wanted to make good use of it.

"Dad," Weiss almost scolded. "We'll be fine. You don't have to waste your money on us."

"Not after that encounter," Wilford stated. "I'm not going to take any risks and neither should you."

Blake heaved a sigh. "Who are these people you hired?"

Blake knew arguing with him would be for naught, so she wanted the details.

"People that blend in," Wilford informed. "You won't even know who they are."

Wilhelmina pointed to her husband. " _He_ doesn't even know who they are."

"Great," Weiss groaned. "So now we have hired stalkers. That's just great."

"Hey," the male pureblood's tone lowered. "I'll be damned if we allow that wretched woman to hurt your team again."

"Thank you, Mr. Schnee," Ruby chimed. "That's very thoughtful of you."

All her teammates stared at her in shock. It wasn't like Ruby to accept something this generous and required so much effort. In fact, her teammates were sure she'd try to reject it and tell him to take his money back.

"It's my pleasure, Ruby," Wilford acknowledged. "We hope you make a full recovery."

"You don't have to worry about that," Ruby replied. "Everyone's been helpful, especially Weiss."

Yang saw her chance to tease her again. "She even missed class for Rubes!"

"You did?" Wilhelmina was surprised. "I thought you would avoid the infirmary."

"It's been fine," Weiss stated. "Ruby is my partner. I'm not going to leave her in the infirmary alone."

From that, her parents grinned. They were aware their daughter had a fear of hospitals since she was young and were relieved to see that they were all doing well.

"Yes, well," Wilhelmina continued. "We just wanted to let your team know."

"Even though it's creepy that random people will be watching us," Blake said. "Thanks for thinking of us."

"Naturally,' Wilford stated and glanced at Ruby. "Team leader, your only mission is to get better."

The vampire sisters were pleased to see that their father had taken a liking to their team. It was a better outcome than when their parents met them for the first time, that's for sure.

Acknowledging Ruby as the trusted team leader was a leap forward.

"I wasn't planning on doing anything else," Ruby assured. "Make sure to stay safe, too."

"Ruby's right," Weiss agreed. "You are the most powerful purebloods. Who knows what Cinder might have planned for you."

"Don't worry about us," Wilhelmina waved off. "You know how well your father and I work together in combat."

In the past, the vampire sisters sometimes watched their parents spar. It was mainly to give them pointers about combat. Spectating a match was just as important as partaking in one. Training was vital, especially for the younger vampire sisters. They had become good fighters in case their lives were at risk.

Their lives were always at risk, so their parents trained with them and Winter frequently.

Out of all the attacks the sisters learned from them…

The one thing they remembered by far…

Was all the ice.

When they finished sparring, ice was _everywhere._

After almost every practice they got colds from the sheer amount of ice that destroyed the room.

The vampire sisters shuddered from the memory.

"Ruthless," Blake murmured. "Absolutely ruthless."

"Right?" Wilhelmina agreed. "Now we must be going. We love you."

"Love you," the vampire sisters replied in unison.

"Bye!" Ruby and Yang replied.

After Blake hung up, the team stared at each other. Silently, they were still processing the new information.

"Not gonna lie," Yang broke the silence. "I'm gonna be a bit paranoid."

"You're not alone on that," Blake faintly chuckled. "Try not to worry about it, okay?"

Ruby gripped her sister's hand. "It's for our own good."

"Don't worry," Weiss advised, her gaze fixed on Ruby. "Cinder won't lay a hand on you ever again."

She'd personally see to it.

* * *

 **Silly papa Schnee**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	48. A New Arrival

**Wooaaaaahhh, it's been over a year since LMH was published! Thanks for your support. That's proof enough you're dandy! I really appreciate it. This story has come a long way thanks to you. Something tells me you'll like this chapter.**

* * *

The next day, team RWBY was getting ready for their leader to get discharged.

Ruby's wounds didn't reopen, unlike the first night she stayed there.

For most of the time, her team stayed by her side and even slept with her in the infirmary room at night. Making sure to ease any oncoming loneliness and uneasiness their leader may feel.

Just as they were about to exit the infirmary after the 'okay' from the nurse, Neptune and Sun walked into greet them at the door.

"Hey guys!" Ruby chirped. She noticed Sun was holding a bouquet of roses. The crimson of the petals were vibrant in the dull infirmary room. "Whatcha doing with those?"

"Here," Sun held them out to her, careful not to spill the vase. "We figured you'd like them, considering your emblem and all."

Blake smiled from Ruby's reaction. Her face lit up for the first time in a while. For some reason, Blake didn't want Ruby to know it was her idea, so she adamantly insisted Sun and Neptune keep quiet about the roses being her suggestion.

Ruby smelled the roses softly, appreciating the sweet aroma lingering in her nose. "I love them. Thanks guys! That's very thoughtful of you."

Neptune and Sun fist bumped each other.

"It was no problem!" Sun said.

Yang's grin grew wider than anyone. She was curious as to why Sun and Neptune didn't tell Ruby it was Blake's idea, but she will question it later. Right now, she wanted to enjoy her sister's warm smile from the simple gesture.

"Congrats on being discharged, Ruby," Neptune easily replied.

Ruby held the roses closely and protectively. "Thank you, ohhhh, I love them so much!"

After faint giggles from everyone, Sun pointed to her stomach.

"Is it completely healed?"

Ruby gently placed a hand over her belly, which was still bandaged as a precautionary measure. "It'll be sore for a while. The doctor said I should take it easy the next few days."

Yang slung her arm around Ruby's shoulders. "We'll make sure she does."

"I'm not worried about that," Blake cut in. "I'm worried about how many cookies she'll devour."

"You never know," Weiss said and gazed at her leader, teasing tone present. "You could reopen your wounds from the inside if you eat too many sweets."

Ruby pouted. "I don't have a cookie addiction," she stomped her foot in emphasis, only to have a cookie fall out of her pocket.

Everyone stared at the treat, which hit the hard floor. No one was surprised at all that Ruby had a few extra sweets on her person to satisfy her cookie urges.

"Stupid lady pockets…"

* * *

The moment they closed the door to their room, they noticed something was off. Ruby set the rose bouquet on her desk and admired how well it pulled the room together.

Yang bolted to the middle of the floor and picked up a random container, which had a note attached.

The blonde examined the message and read it out loud.

"Dear girls, I've got to leave the island for a few days, so I'm sending Zwei to you to take care of. Enclosed is all the food you should need. Love you both, Taiyang."

"Zwei?" Weiss tilted her head. "Who's that?"

"Zwei!" Ruby bounced up and down with glee, only to rub her stomach from pain.

"Take it easy," Blake was by her side in a second, a gentle hand rubbing her back for comfort. "Try not to be so hyper for a while, okay?"

"Okay," Ruby agreed. "But is it true? Is Zwei here?"

Yang shook the container to answer her question. After dozens of cans of food poured out, a little dog dropped to the floor excitedly, wagging his tail and tongue hanging out the side of his mouth.

Everyone hovered over the animal. Yang and Ruby were happy to see their lifelong companion while Weiss and Blake simply stared, trying to process what was in front of them.

Zwei gazed at all four and yipped, giving them an excited jump.

Yang and Ruby jumped with glee, while Weiss was more shocked how a dog survived for who knows how long in the mail. Blake on the other hand was terrified, her hair sticking straight up.

In excitement, Ruby cuddled the animal and peppered him with kisses. In return, Zwei licked her bandaged wounds.

"Aw, Zwei, you smell my owie?"

Another yip.

From the noise, Blake flinched. "He sent a dog!?"

"In the mail?!" Weiss finished.

Yang watched her giddy sister and dog with a smile. "Oh, he does stuff like this all the time."

Blake had already hidden herself in Ruby's top bunk, glaring at Zwei. "Your father or the dog?"

Weiss leaned in and glared at the animal, who was sprawled out in Ruby's arms. "Are you telling me… that this mangy…"

Zwei gave her a wide smile, something that reminded her of Yang.

"... drooling mutt..." her lips quirked to a smile. "Is gonna wiv with us foweva?"

Blake felt defeated, the dog even got her sister to like him, too.

Weiss playfully rubbed Zwei's head. "Oh yes he is~" she cooed. "Yes he is~"

"Woah, princess," Yang chimed. "I've never seen you act like this."

"Or Blake," Ruby gazed up at Blake, who was hiding in the corner of Ruby's bed.

Zwei jumped out of Ruby's arms and pranced over, his dark gray eyes scanning Blake. The blood-faunus scowled at the small dog and crouched lower to the bed. Zwei yipped excitedly, happy to get some attention from the aristocrat.

Blake let out a spine shivering hiss, causing Zwei to back up a few feet, whimpering.

From the sound, her teammates gave their full attention to Blake. Yang was even frightened for the dog and scooped him in her arms.

"Woah, Blake," Yang tried to calm her down. "I didn't know you could hiss," she faced Weiss, who had a shocked expression. "Have you ever heard her hiss?"

"No," the heiress was totally baffled at the noise her sister emitted. "I've never heard you hiss like that before."

After all those years of living with Blake, she never even thought her sister could make a sound like that. She supposed it made sense due to her being part cat faunus, but still.

Two natural enemies would have to live together. The team could only hope they learned to get along.

Amber eyes narrowed threateningly at the dog, her tone lowering. "Don't let it touch my stuff."

The three inwardly cringed when she referred to the dog as an 'it.'

"Kitten!" Yang whined. "Zwei is great, you'll love him!"

Blake and Zwei continued their stare down, not breaking eye contact.

"He's a good dog," Ruby pet Zwei on the head as he was sprawled out in Yang's arms, earning a tail wag and more excited panting. "See? He even tried to make my stomach feel better!"

Blake's cat ears lowered, she was truly outnumbered.

Weiss quite literally stole the little dog out of Yang's arms.

"Hey!" Yang yelped. "I wasn't done givin' him some lovin'!"

"I have much more to give," Weiss easily replied.

The heiress coddled the small dog in her arms, cooing and murmuring soothing words in his wide, broad ears.

Blake's cat ear flicked and caught the words her sister murmured.

"Blake will like you sooner or later. Until then, don't give up, okay?"

The little pep-talk earned a lick on the check, which elicited a tiny squeal.

The blood-faunus didn't like that one bit. "Don't give him ideas!"

Weiss gently coaxed the small corgi to the floor. "Why, whatever do you mean?"

Blake pointed accusingly at her. "You know _exactly_ what I'm talking about!"

"Don't worry so much, Blake," Ruby stated. "Zwei is a good boy, I promise he won't do anything bad."

Blake bit her lip and continued to glower at her enemy.

"Oh yeah," Yang recalled. "We gotta walk him sooner or later."

"In case you didn't know, dogs aren't allowed," Blake pointed out, happy she found a reason to get rid of the mutt.

"Eh," the blonde waved off. "I'll walk him later at night. No one'll see him!"

Blake's eye twitched. She tried to wrap her mind around every problem with keeping him, but there was a loophole for every single one.

"I'll take him tonight," Weiss volunteered. "I want to get to know him."

Yang perked an eyebrow, curious as to what she was planning. "Alright then. Just be quick, we can't have anyone catch him."

Weiss nodded and sauntered over to her desk. "Of course, but first I'm copying your notes."

She pulled out Yang's messy notebook from her bag and set it on her desk.

Yang shrugged. "Have fun with that."

Before she could copy down the first word, she felt soft fur glide against her leg. "Aw, who's a cute wittle doggy?"

Zwei gazed up at her, his tongue lolling out to the side.

No matter how much she didn't want to, Weiss went back to the task at hand, telling herself she could cuddle Zwei later. While she copied the notes, she heard Ruby trying to put Blake at ease and murmuring words of reassurance.

It was difficult to discern what certain words were. Especially in Yang's unruly handwriting. Occasionally, her eyes squinted to make out what a simple sentence read. But she didn't ask Yang for help to translate, not wanting to hurt her feelings. Especially after she jotted almost every single letter from the lecture.

Somehow, she copied a whole page. She pushed through all the small talk in the background, and forced herself to look away whenever Zwei would bark.

She flipped the page over, expecting another handful of notes. However, instead of words and scribbles, several images scoured the entire page.

The heiress squinted as she studied the images, trying to discern if they were what she thought it was.

 _Of all the things she could have doodled, she picked this?_

Weiss was baffled by the drawings to say the least. _S-such detail…_ she was impressed and disgusted at herself for even thinking that. _And yet so gross!_

She stood from her seat and held up the disorganized notebook. "Xiao Long, what is the meaning of this?"

Yang perked up from hearing her name. She stared at the doodle with a smirk. "Oh yeah, _that_."

Weiss gave her a glare.

"What? Drawing them helps me relax."

"Drawing _dicks_ helps you relax?!" Weiss yelped. "Of all the things to sketch, you chose this?!"

"Hey," the blonde said solemnly, yet defensively. "Don't judge me."

"That is exactly what I'm doing right now," the heiress informed.

That conversation got Blake to hop off her bed. Curiosity got the best of her and she grabbed the notebook in question, staring at the page of doodles in awe. "Woah, Yang… such detail…"

"Right?" that made Yang smirk.

Weiss couldn't believe her sister was on Yang's side. "Don't encourage her!"

This made Blake forget about the dog, who was yipping and pawing her leg.

Blake screeched and jumped in the air, her hair sticking up from the unwanted contact. She didn't even jump on the bed, just teleported into thin air.

The three remaining teammates glanced around to look for their friend, only to realize she vanished.

Zwei was left whimpering, wondering what he did wrong.

Ruby sighed. "This'll take a while for her to get used to."

* * *

 **Lololololol Yang strikes again. Did you really think Zwei wouldn't be in this story? Of course he is! He becomes important, so he'll stick around like I hope you will! It's been one hell of a year! :)**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	49. Close Call

The sky was clear and the shattered moon shone brightly in the night over Beacon Academy's courtyard. There was a brisk chill in the air, typical of a spring night.

Weiss walked along the pathway of the large courtyard with a dog leash in hand with their newest arrival Zwei.

"I know I said I'd walk you tonight, but now I'm regretting it," Weiss rubbed her eyes with her free hand. "First the brute draws... genitalia," she shuddered from the word. "Then she tells me the only time to walk you is three in the morning?"

Zwei yipped in excitement. He was just happy to be outside after being in the mail the whole day before.

"You have to be quiet," the heiress hushed the small corgi. "Nobody can know you're here. It's like Blake said, there are no dogs allowed at Beacon."

Zwei barked again, but quietly this time.

"Just hurry up and… do your thing," Weiss sighed. "I love you, but I swear I'm not walking you this late ever again."

She wanted to get to know the corgi better, but not like _this_.

Zwei walked ahead of Weiss, tugging at the leash and sniffing at the concrete path in front of him. Instead of wandering to the grass like a normal dog, Zwei lowered himself on the concrete and raised his tail in the air.

Weiss looked away, feeling it was indecent to watch someone while they were going to the bathroom.

Once he was finished, Zwei let out a bark to get Weiss' attention. She looked down at the ground, and in the moonlight, she saw a pile of excrement that was almost half the size of the dog.

"Oh my god…" Weiss mumbled. "They didn't say anything about how large you could… do that."

Zwei stared at her and then the poop on the ground.

Weiss knew what he was thinking. "No way in hell," she said in disgust. "I am _not_ touching that. You're a cute wittle dog, but that's disgusting."

Suddenly, the sound of a door opening on the other side of the courtyard echoed through the air.

Without thought, Weiss quickly bent down and picked up the small dog, throwing him under her arm like a football. "We need to go."

She ran barefoot into the grass, spinning around on her heel to avoid running into the pile of dog poo.

She hurried back into the dorm building with the little dog in her arms, avoiding whoever was coming down the path in front of them.

Ozpin stepped outside into the courtyard with his fresh cup of coffee in hand. He deeply inhaled the brisk night air into his lungs before exhaling slowly.

Ozpin strolled across the concrete, humming a chipper tune as he enjoyed the peaceful breeze. He always liked to get some fresh air every now and then when no one was around. This was the only time he could be alone and have time to himself.

He continued down the path until his melodic humming was interrupted by a large squishing sound from beneath his foot.

Ozpin looked down and saw a large brown pile of something just beneath his loafer.

He lifted his foot to get a better look at what he'd stepped on.

"Oh fucking hell."

Ozpin couldn't believe it. He'd stepped in poop.

"What the…"

He tried to wrap his mind around why there was _poop_ in the walkway.

Ozpin lifted his foot to get a good look at the poop, immediately wishing he hadn't.

* * *

That morning, team RWBY was sitting in doctor Oobleck's lecture.

Weiss, Pyrrha, and Ruby had given up on trying to take notes for his class long ago, so they opted to listen instead.

Blake's cat ear flicked whenever Oobleck moved from each end of the classroom, which was every other second. She and Weiss casually took some sips of their blood tablet water, content to listen for the material.

From what they could tell, Oobleck was lecturing about dust, something the vampire sisters were experts at by this point.

Oobleck was cut off by the speakers of the intercom as they made a dinging noise.

"Attention students," what sounded like Ozpin said. "It has come to my attention that there has been an incident in the courtyard last night."

Every student stared at each other, wondering what happened.

Ozpin continued. "I would like to point out that publicly defecating in the courtyard is extremely inappropriate behavior."

All the students began snickering at the announcement.

"Oh my god," Yang glared at Weiss, who had her head lowered in shame. "Was that you? **"**

"Yes, Yang," Weiss said sarcastically. "It was me. I defecated in the courtyard."

That earned a loud snort from Ruby.

Yang looked at Weiss like she was contemplating if her teammate actually took a crap in the courtyard.

"It wasn't me!" Weiss said in a low whisper. "I wouldn't do that. Don't look at me like that!"

"I-I knew that!" Yang replied unconvincingly. "And you know what I mean! Did you not pick up his poop?"

"Eheh," Weiss attempted a dry laugh as she sunk into the back of her seat.

"Weiss!" Yang seethed. "You _have_ to pick it up, do you want someone to take him away?"

"Yes," Blake chimed, her voice leveled. "Maybe this is a good thing."

Her eyes were baggy and her voice was fatigued. Since Zwei arrived, she hadn't been able to sleep properly. Being close to a dog made her anxious and even afraid of his presence.

She'd grown up isolated along with Weiss, so she wasn't well-versed in animals even though she was a cat faunus. She wasn't surprised when the heiress was excited to keep a dog in the room for a while, but Blake was having a hard time coping due to her faunus traits.

"Uh, Blake," Ruby whined. "I'm telling you he's a good boy."

Blake put her hand under her chin and smirked knowingly. "Apparently not."

"In my defense," the heiress started. "You never told me his… feces… is half his size!"

Ozpin continued to talk over the intercom. "If this happens again, I will find you. I know you're out there. I will find you and when I do, I will k- I mean, promise the punishment will be swift and painless."

The intercom then cut off.

Oobleck stared back at the audience. "Well, there you have it, students! Do not defecate in the courtyard, or there will be consequences!"

Even though the doctor was serious, a few giggles rang out in the classroom.

Yang stared at Weiss. "You're not walking him anymore."

Weiss crossed her arms and huffed. "Fine by me."

"Blake," Ruby called when she noticed her teammate was distressed. "Are you tired?"

Blake gave her a look.

"Is that a yes?"

The blood-faunus simply rolled her bloodshot eyes. "Yes, Ruby. I'm very tired."

"We'll be quiet for ya when we get back," Yang chimed. "So you can take a little cat nap."

Blake sighed from the pun while the others groaned.

Blake knew the real reason she couldn't sleep.

It was the little corgi.

However, she wasn't going to say anything about it since she saw how happy the… mutt... made Ruby.

Not only Ruby, but the rest of her team.

And it's not like she'd be able to get rid of him anyways.

Blake doubted she'd be able to get an ounce of sleep if the dog was in the same room as her.

Still, she had to try to sleep least one more time. Seeing Ruby worried about her didn't sit well with her.

"It'd be appreciated."

* * *

As promised, as soon as they got back to the room, her three teammates were quiet.

Blake made it known to Zwei not to be near her, so the moment she walked through the door, Zwei stayed in the corner of the room, wagging his stubby tail at the arrivals.

Weiss immediately went over to greet the giddy ball of fur while Blake stared him down.

"Get some rest, yeah?" Yang said to her partner. "We'll be here if you need anything."

The blood-faunus nodded and crawled into her bed. She pulled the blankets over her head, angrily mumbling to herself. Zwei's scent was invading her nose and she could hear his eager pants from her sister giving him a belly rub.

After a few minutes, she couldn't even blink. They were too dry. Her eyes were stinging from the lack of sleep. The constant paws prancing around the room annoyed her, but she had to deal with him.

She told herself that's what would be best for the team.

Reluctantly, she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to forget his presence.

But doubted she could do so.

* * *

 **Some of this chapter was based off TotoMAK's "A Series of Unfortunate Events." The actual chapter is a bit cruder, but hilarious all the same.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	50. Dealing With Fear

It was no surprise when Blake felt like crap the next morning.

The last thing she wanted was her teammates to find out she was sick.

With the constant patter of paws wandering the room, she found it hard to sleep. She wasn't used to the new _foul_ smell either, so she was still adapting to living with the new arrival.

When Ruby blew the whistle, she cracked open one dreary amber eye, internally cursing herself.

Her teammates rose for another day, and Yang found it odd Blake was still in bed, considering it was usually she herself who took forever to get up.

"Blakey~"

The blood-faunus felt a shift in weight on her mattress. She struggled to push herself up and was met with eccentric lilac orbs.

"Hey, Yang," Blake greeted, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

From the greeting, Zwei barked once, earning a glare from the aristocrat.

"What is it, boy?" Ruby asked.

Zwei's gaze locked onto Blake and he let slip a weak whimper.

Ruby gasped, knowing exactly what her small dog was trying to say. "Blake, are you feeling alright?"

"What?" Weiss asked. "Are you sick?"

Yang gently placed the back of her hand on her forehead, instantly recoiling from the heat. "Yikes, kitten's got a fever."

Blake's ears flattened on her head. Hiding the fact that she was sick didn't last long and she casted another glare at the whimpering corgi.

It was all because of _him_.

"No classes for you today, okay?" Ruby told her. "Get some rest, I'll watch after you."

"Woah, woah," Yang chimed. "Hold up. Rubes, you're still recovering."

"She's right," Weiss agreed. "An injured person taking care of a sick person doesn't sound right."

"It's okay," Blake said. "It's not that bad. You guys go to class. I need some peace and quiet anyways."

The last thing she wanted was to be a burden to her teammates.

"Blake," Weiss almost chided. "We won't leave you alone when you have a fever."

Blake gave her a soft smile. "I'll be fine. You've missed enough classes when you stayed with Ruby and when you were sick."

The heiress gave her a disappointed look. "You're my sister, Blake. I can miss a few classes to look after you."

"It's okay," Blake tried to assure. "I know how much you worry about your grades."

"I worry far more about you than any grade," Weiss informed, her tone earnest. "But if you don't want me to stay with you, I suppose the brute could."

Blake tiredly stared at the blonde, who was looking troubled. "She skipped a few classes."

Weiss glared at Yang. "You what?!"

"I screwed up," Yang admitted and flinched from the raised voice. "It's too late to take it back," she silently cursed herself.

Because of her own negligence, the blonde couldn't take care of her partner in her time of need.

"Blake-"

"I promise I'll be fine," she told Ruby. "I have my scroll near, so I can text you guys if anything happens or if I need anything."

"Promise?" Ruby asked. "You swear?"

The amount of caring in this room alone could have wrapped Blake in a warm blanket. Seeing Ruby this worried about her made her heart flutter.

Not only that, but the whole team was struck with worry and concern.

It made Blake feel warm...

Although she already was from the fever.

It was a different warmth. The good kind.

"I promise."

"Okay, good," Ruby said as she unwrapped her cape.

"Rubes, what're you doing?"

Ruby took off her red cape and threw it around Blake, properly securing the tie so it wouldn't fall off.

The aristocrat was enshrouded in warmth and a strawberry aroma, shivers no longer present. She blushed when Ruby leaned in her ear, which sent a new kind of shiver up her spine.

"Get better."

Ruby braced her hand on Blake's back, gently guiding her down to get some rest.

"How could I not with your cape around me?"

The leader gave her a soft smile, her hands gliding through Blake's damp bangs.

"You can't," Ruby winked.

She reluctantly stood and left to join her teammates to finish their morning rituals. Weiss took the liberty of setting a cool cloth on her sister's sweltering forehead. She took note that Blake still wasn't asleep, just resting.

Before they left, Weiss turned around to face her sister. "There's blood bags under the bed in case you need some."

Yang and Ruby weren't surprised at all from the comment, like it was the most casual thing in the world.

Yang peaked her head in the room. "Get better, kitten. We'll be back soon to take care of you."

"Text us if you need anything," Ruby said.

"I will," the blood-faunus tiredly replied.

When she heard the door shut, Blake shut her eyes in an attempt to sleep, but she heard the familiar patter of paws approaching her.

How the hell could she forget about Zwei? He was the reason she was sick in the first place!

Blake shot up like a rocket, clutching the blankets and cowered in the corner. "G-get away from me!"

From the yell, Zwei backed away slowly, whimpering and his stubby tail lowered.

Zwei tilted his head, noticing the look she gave him.

Fear.

Zwei didn't like that look.

The little corgi scampered to a corner, firmly sitting on the ground to show Blake he wouldn't bother her.

Once she was certain Zwei would stay away from her, she gently placed her feet on the floor, intending to grab the book on her desk.

With the small corgi watching her every move, she doubted she could get a wink of sleep.

She grabbed the book, only to have it slip through her fingers when a dizzy spell hit the back of her head like a ton of bricks.

She placed her hands on her knees and her breath came in shallow pants. Zwei's ears perked when he sensed something was wrong with his companion.

The little dog barked and frantically circled around her in worry. Blake was terrified the corgi got so close so suddenly and out of reflex, teleported away from him.

Zwei was confused when she disappeared. He whimpered in concern and scanned the area, hoping she didn't leave the room like last time. It didn't take him long to find her on top of Ruby's bunk.

He timidly whimpered up at her, concern in his beady eyes.

"Stay... away…"

Blake was already sick, so the combination of that and using zehn caused her to tip forward in an even worse dizzy spell.

Her eyes fluttered shut as she fell off the bunk dizzyingly, the red cape flowing behind her. The last thing she remembered before losing consciousness was something sturdy and soft against her back.

Zwei instantly crouched, his dark gray eyes narrowing in concentration. He knew he wasn't allowed near Blake, but he wouldn't let her hit the floor hardly if he could stop it. As Blake fell out of the top bunk, the little corgi jumped directly below her, breaking her fall.

It took him a few seconds to wiggle out from under the girl, who was still panting for breath and now lying on the ground, her black hair sprawled out and the red cape draped over her body. Zwei whimpered desperately. He knew he wasn't allowed near her, but he didn't want his sick companion on the hard floor, so he gently pawed her side and yipped loudly to rouse her.

Blake's eyes furrowed a few times before opening. Zwei made sure to keep his distance after that as his ears leaned back in concern. He didn't want her to be even more startled than she was before, especially after waking up.

The aristocrat's tired eyes landed on him, her face as red as the cape and her breathing had yet to slow.

Her eyes had changed from amber to a dark red.

For a second, she forgot how she got on the floor.

But the memory came swarming back as quickly as her fangs popped out without permission. She immediately covered them from habit, but then remembered it was just Zwei, so she pulled her hands away.

She craved blood.

Real blood.

 _No, even though he's a dog… He's loved and cherished. I can't bite him._

She dismissed the thought, knowing that animal blood tasted bitter anyways.

Zwei saw her reach underneath one of the bunks. She was still lying on the floor, so she was having trouble. With a timid bark, he let her know he was getting closer to her. Her reaction was a slight flinch.

He crawled under the bed with ease due to his small size and pulled out the familiar backpack.

Blake slowly sat up and tried to gain her bearings while Zwei dragged the bag out in the open, setting it beside her.

"Th-thank you," Blake didn't know what to say.

Zwei sat next to Blake, content with her words. She seemed much more relaxed now, her posture slackened. The little corgi made sure not to startle her as she reached in the bag.

The blood-faunus pulled out several forms of dust, blood tablets, and finally, the blood bag she desperately needed.

Each item that she pulled out made Zwei tilt his head in curiosity. He watched her with calculating eyes as she drained the bag, not at all affected by her actions.

After Blake exhaled in relief, her fangs retracted and her red eyes retreated to their original, gentle amber color.

She felt another shiver creep up her spine as she gazed at the well-behaved corgi.

"You know about us, don't you?"

He yipped in response, his stubby tail wagging.

 _Can dogs know about vampires?_

Blake doubted it, but Zwei seemed like a smart dog, so she wouldn't be surprised.

"Um…"

Blake wasn't sure how to do this, she never exactly talked to an animal before.

"Did you break my fall?"

The little corgi yipped once and wagged his stubby tail, his tongue lolled to the side.

Blake gathered that was a 'yes,' so she hesitantly reached her hand out to him to thank him. She looked the other way and squeezed her eyes shut, still somewhat unsure of him.

Zwei's ears perked up from the gesture. He took it slow and sniffed her hand, making sure she wouldn't be frightened. When Blake gave him a timid smile, he gently brushed his head beneath her palm.

"G-good boy," she pulled her hand away.

Zwei gave her a concerned look.

"Right…" Blake mumbled. "I should probably get off the floor."

She wasn't too keen on her teammates walking in on her sitting on the floor next to the worried corgi. She could hear their worried voices already.

She stood with controlled slowness, grateful the little dog worriedly trailed behind her, not prying his eyes off her.

Once Blake managed that, she picked up her book and made her way over to the bed, still slightly dizzy.

The red cape flowed behind her as she wrapped it around herself tightly and sniffled slightly. She was aware of the gentle paws following her, but as long as he didn't touch her, she was fine with his guarding presence.

She crawled into bed, allowing the blankets and cape to engulf her in much needed warmth. She cracked open the book, but a soft bark distracted her.

She leaned over the bed to stare down at Zwei. "What?"

Zwei pawed at her blankets, whimpering.

"You're not coming up here. I just washed these sheets."

More pitiful whimpers.

"No," Blake said sternly and laid back down.

She'd never slept with someone else before,and there was no way in hell the first time would be with a _dog._

Now she felt extremely drained. Zwei's presence didn't bother her nearly as much anymore.

She didn't find his presence as a threatening, but she supposed she could tolerate the helpful dog.

She took a deep breath and set her book on her nightstand.

After that, it didn't take her long for her eyes to drift shut. They were heavy.

In a matter of minutes, she was in a deep slumber.

Once Zwei knew she was okay, he curled up below Blake's bed in a little ball on the floor.

He wasn't going to push his luck when she was finally getting some much-needed rest.

* * *

 **Just some Blake-Zwei relationship building! Hope it was cuuuuute!**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	51. I'll Save You Somehow

"Oh my god…"

Yang and her friends in combat class could only watch the practice fight in utter shock.

It was finally Nora's turn to fight someone from a different team. It came as no surprise to team JNPR, considering her combat style, that the rambunctious orange-haired girl would have a field day.

Amused grins broke out.

"Come on!" Nora whined. "Just one hit!" she swung her hammer, which caused a dent in the arena.

Scarlet ran as fast as he could with high-pitched screams as his arms flailed in the air. The only thing he could do to avoid the death trap was run.

Nora kept slamming her hammer directly behind the poor boy. The tide of battle continued like this as the spectators gasped from near direct hits.

Blake sipped her blood tablet water and murmured. "This is like a vicious game of whack-a-mole."

"I didn't know a game like that could be so brutal," the heiress couldn't pry her eyes off the scene.

Meanwhile, Ren thought it was the most casual thing in the world and just wanted his partner to end the practice match. She tended to get a little excited during combat sometimes.

Ruby was on the edge of her seat as each swing crushed the ground with brutal force. Scarlet kept sprinting away from the all-too-eager girl, yelping in the meantime.

"Come on, Scarlet!" Sun cheered. "You got this!"

Scarlet continued shrieking and running away from the death hammer. Each satisfying scream caused Nora's smug grin to grow wider.

"This is the most entertaining fight so far," Ruby almost snickered. "I'm glad we're on Nora's good side."

" _He's_ on Sun's team?" Yang couldn't believe it. "Sun and Neptune are pretty good fighters, but this guy…"

"He's dressed like a pirate!" Ruby observed. "Argh!"

Weiss glared at her leader. "What are you, five?"

Ruby simply giggled, still staring at the scene.

At last, Scarlet pivoted on his heel for a counter-attack, and swung his cutlass. Nora wasn't expecting the sudden change of heart and absorbed a single cut, only to whirl her hammer to block the rest of his remaining onslaught.

For a different strategy, Nora used her grenade launcher to gain some distance. She bumped her opponent while she hopped away. While Scarlet was dazed, she finally slammed Magnhild against him at full force, which elicited a surprised yelp.

Scarlet flew across the arena and thumped hardly on his back. He slid a few feet before hitting the barrier and groaned.

Like that, his aura bar dropped to the red.

Everyone's jaws dropped from the sudden whack and gasps rang out.

Glynda jotted some notes on her scroll before announcing the winner.

"The victor is Ms. Valkyrie!"

"O-one hit and his aura dropped to red?" Yang couldn't believe it. "One?!"

Nora beamed a grin and skipped over to help the boy up.

"That was a fun fight!" Nora exclaimed as she took his hand.

Scarlet accepted the gesture and rubbed his head sheepishly. "Y-yeah," he said, still trying to come to his senses.

The opponents went back to their seats. Once Nora was close enough, Ren spoke.

"Nora, what did I tell you about going overboard?"

"Oops," Nora mumbled. "I thought you were just talking about grimm."

Ren simply sighed as she took her seat.

"That was…" Yang muttered. "A thing…"

* * *

Ever since Blake made a full recovery, her team noticed she was less tense when she entered their room. Especially when she was around the eager corgi.

It took the whole day to nurse her back to health, but after drinking human blood from a backup bag with the help of Zwei, Blake felt a little better.

Especially after coming to understand their newest arrival.

Ever since Zwei stayed with the blood-faunus when she was sick, he was more respectful of Blake's personal space.

It seemed like they had come to some type of an agreement.

A silent contract of sorts.

As long as he didn't touch her bed or get too close to her, she supposed she could tolerate him for the time being.

Blake allowed Zwei to get near her, but to never touch unless she gave him explicit permission. Which was rare.

As usual, the small corgi bolted over to the door to greet his friends. Weiss crouched down to shower him in kisses along his snout and face.

Ruby and Yang rubbed his fur, cooing greetings in his big ears while Blake walked passed the dog and gazed at his beady eyes in acknowledgement.

Zwei was smiling, his tongue lolling out the side as he yipped happily. He didn't follow the blood-faunus, but it made his day knowing she could at least tolerate him without teleporting out of the room anymore.

"I still can't believe your father sent him in the mail," Weiss thought out loud. "What kind of person is he?"

Now that she thought about it, the other pair of sisters knew a lot about their own family, but they didn't know much about theirs, except Qrow.

"Dad is pretty cool," Yang said fondly. "He's a hunter, so he's gone all the time."

Ruby nodded in agreement. "He got another mission and left Patch, so we're in charge of Zwei for the time being."

"I see," Weiss said. "Is that why you wanted to become huntresses?"

"I wanted to because of my mom," Ruby stated. "She was so awesome!"

"Was…?"

Blake's ears flattened on her head, and Zwei's followed suit from the shift of tone.

Ruby was visibly saddened. "She died on one of her missions..."

"Oh my..." the heiress didn't know what to say. "I'm so sorry, I had no idea."

"It's okay," Ruby assured. "Dad and Qrow have always been there for us."

Blake couldn't help but notice her partner was too quiet for comfort. "What about you, Yang? Are you two from the same mother or father?"

"We share the same dad, who, as you know is Taiyang," the blonde said levelly. "My mom's name was Raven. I can't really remember her well, but she and Ruby's mom, Summer, died on the same mission. At the time, they were partners, but one day… they never came back."

The vampire sisters never knew about that. Blake was aware Ruby's mother died, but she didn't know how. Weiss tried to wrap her mind around what it'd be like to lose her mom, and couldn't imagine the pain they went through.

Blake on the other hand understood completely. Not only has she lost her biological mom, she had witnessed the murder of both her parents.

"It's okay," Ruby stated. "After they died, I was brought to Yang."

Yang grabbed Ruby's arm. "And we've never looked back."

Yang glanced at the vampire sisters and Zwei, all of which were visibly upset.

"Hey, come on now," the blonde said. "It's okay. This depressing atmosphere isn't my style!"

The corners of Weiss' lips slipped into a smile. It was just like Yang to try to enlighten the area around her.

It came so naturally to her.

It was like she really was the sun.

"Ren was right," the heiress mentioned. "Nora went overboard today."

The three bursted into small giggles, glad the subject switched to something lighthearted.

"Here," Ruby swung her scythe around her shoulders. "Lemme reenact it for you," she charged at Weiss while snickering.

"Gah!" Weiss ran away from Ruby. "Ruby! Are you trying to kill me?!"

Ruby pounded Crescent Rose into the ground directly next to Weiss, while Zwei barked and chased her.

"Get that thing away from me, dolt!"

Blake and Yang just watched the scene in amusement. Zwei was yipping and chasing both, not sure who to go after.

"Speaking of class," Blake turned to Yang. "I know I shouldn't worry about him since he's a douche and all, but… Do you know where Cardin went? He wasn't there again."

Winchester had defeated both vampire sisters in a fight, so Blake knew he was strong and she shouldn't worry.

"Who knows," Yang shrugged. "That jerk could vanish for all I care."

After watching both her teammates get beat up by him, he wasn't exactly at the top of Yang's best friends list.

More barks echoed through the room accompanied by several yelps from Weiss.

Blake held her chin in thought. "Still… I haven't seen him since Cinder attacked us that night."

"Do you think he's in hiding?" Yang perked a brow. "It'd make sense."

"Maybe," the aristocrat replied. "I'm not sure."

Yang heaved a sigh. "If he's not in class tomorrow we can call him or something. I don't know, he's not exactly our top priority."

"No, I agree with you," Blake assured. "I don't know it's just… I have a bad feeling."

"Try not to worry about it, kay?" the blonde said. "We'll figure it out like we always do."

"You're right," Blake admitted.

Zwei yipped even more at Ruby's scythe, his snout formed a puppy dog grin.

"Would you guys shut it?!" Yang yelled. "Rubes, put that thing away!"

Zwei stopped barking from the shout, his stubby tail lowered ever so slightly.

Ruby gasped and tucked her scythe into her chest. "She's my sweetheart, and you will treat her as such!"

"Your 'sweetheart' almost killed me!" Weiss yelped. "Put it away!"

Ruby pouted and sheathed Crescent Rose into its compact form, still coddling it and murmuring under her breath.

"You know what? I was wrong," Weiss glanced at Yang and Ruby. "You're both incorrigible."

* * *

It was later in the night when Ruby heard the worrying whimpers of her dog.

Normally, Zwei slept next to Weiss since she got cold easily during the night. Ruby knew the little corgi wouldn't whimper in the middle of the night unless he had to go to the bathroom, or when something was wrong.

Ruby pushed her blankets down and sat up, surprised to find Zwei pawing at Blake's bed.

The leader hopped out of bed and gently gilded her fingers through Zwei's short fur. "What's wrong, boy?" she whispered, careful not to wake the others.

Zwei glanced at Ruby and then his eyes locked onto Blake.

Ruby nodded reassuringly at him and hovered over Blake, shocked to find her face was furrowed. Not only that, but she was in a cold sweat and it looked like she was trapped in a nightmare.

Again.

"It's okay, Zwei," Ruby murmured lowly. "Let me handle this."

She knew Zwei wasn't welcome on Blake's bed, so if she was going to wake Blake, she wanted her to feel comforted and secure.

The little corgi scampered over to Weiss' bed after a nod. Knowing there was nothing he could do, he hopped up and watched the scene timidly, suppressing more whimpers of worry.

"Blake," Ruby called softly.

When that didn't work, Ruby gently shook her teammate's shoulder to rouse her. Blake's amber eyes shot open and she sat up quickly with a gasp.

"H-hey," Ruby said, trying not to show she was startled. "It's okay. You had a nightmare."

Blake bit her lip, there was no escaping her past.

She watched her parents get murdered and then killed both culprits in cold blood.

With each passing day, the past was starting to affect her even more.

And now it was worrying Ruby.

Which was the last thing she wanted.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Ruby offered. "Sometimes talking helps."

There was no way Blake was going to admit her biggest sin.

She admired Ruby, and even harbored feelings towards her. Because of that, she repeatedly told herself that she couldn't let her know the monster she is.

The monster hiding in full view.

The monster Ruby loved.

Her leader was in ignorant bliss, not knowing of the crime Blake had committed.

Blake knows Ruby deserves someone better.

Someone who wasn't a murderer.

Instead of speaking, tiny rivulets cascaded down her cheeks.

Ruby's heart ripped in half at the sight. On instinct, she wrapped her teammate in a hug.

"It's okay, you don't have to say anything, just listen."

While Blake stifled her sobs and trembled, Ruby spoke and held her firmly.

"I don't know what happened in the past but… if you need _anything_ let me know," she rubbed her back soothingly. "I may not be the best comforter in the world, but I'm a good listener. If something is troubling you, I'm here for you, okay?"

Blake simply nodded and sniffled a few times before speaking. "I know you're there for me, Ruby. Look at what you're doing right now," her voice wavered when she thought of her traumatic past, her hands cupped her face. "I-I'm sorry…"

Ruby realized Blake didn't want to talk about the subject and pulled her close, their bodies in a warm embrace.

It was then that Ruby thought of something she could do.

The leader took off her red cape and wrapped it around Blake to comfort her.

"W-what're you doing?" Blake asked, secretly enjoying Ruby's strawberry aroma the cape emitted.

The aristocrat knew she only took off her cape twice before that. Once when Weiss was sick, and the other when she herself was sick.

It was Ruby's way of showing she truly cared for her team.

"Keep it with you tonight," the leader said sweetly.

Blake simply nodded and accepted her leader's kind words.

Her red cape would challenge any nightmares that haunted Blake. Ruby knew she wouldn't be able to sleep next to her, knowing her teammate needed her space. The cape was to make Blake feel safe and not alone.

In a way, Ruby would be able to stay with her through the night.

Ruby gently coaxed Blake down on the soft pillow. Blake let out a withered sigh, still trying to stop the tears from falling.

"I'll save you from those nightmares somehow one day," Ruby stated firmly. "In the meantime, I'll be waiting and here for you every step of the way."

"Thank you," Blake's voice hitched. "C-can you do me a favor?"

"Anything."

Blake started to blush. "Can you rub my cat ears? J-just until I fall asleep?"

Ruby was perplexed from the request, but she was more than willing to do so.

The last time Blake's cat ears were rubbed was by her mother before she was killed. Sometimes, her mom would rub them soothingly until little Blake drifted off to sleep.

The aristocrat sighed as Ruby gently rubbed her cat ears. Ruby wasn't sure if it was painful for her, but based on Blake's purring, she assumed she was hitting the right spots.

Ruby smiled when her eyes trailed to the roses on her desk. "I know you're the one who suggested roses."

She silently thanked Yang for telling her.

Blake's eyes shot open from the comment and her purrs stopped. Her chest halted the tiny vibrations. You do?"

"Mhm," the leader murmured. "Thank you. They're beautiful."

Blake playfully rolled her eyes. "Sun and Neptune picked them out, not me."

"It's the thought that counts," Ruby easily replied.

Blake still felt guilty for what happened to Ruby on that night. Her leader seemed to have recovered, but she wanted to make sure.

Blake slowly shut her eyes and accepted the statement. "How's your injury?"

"It's almost all better," Ruby whispered. "Still a little sore, but that'll go away soon, don't worry about it," she continued the soothing motions, gripping the cat ears gingerly.

Blake gave a withered sigh as a pleasant shiver was sent through her spine when Ruby hit a sensitive spot.

Blake gazed up at Ruby, her kind silver eyes contained compassion and adoration.

As Blake gazed into the eyes she'd grown fond of, all she wanted to do was to tell Ruby how she felt.

But with a secret as dark as Blake's, she deemed that impossible.

Blake reached out and caressed Ruby's soft cheek with a faint smile. "I'm glad to hear it."

Ruby blushed madly from the action. The contact sent her heart soaring. She contained her overwhelming happiness and continued the soothing message.

Blake's arm lowered and limply laid by her side as she lost herself in the euphoric contact.

Ruby smiled down at the blood-faunus lovingly, glad to hear her soft purrs had resumed and even reverberated throughout her body.

Soon enough, Blake's breathing was in a deep rhythm. Before Ruby went to her bed, she leaned down.

After lightly pecking Blake's forehead, Ruby tugged the red hood over her head to ensure warmth.

"Nighty night..." she murmured sweetly.

She walked over and gave the still-worried corgi a gentle pat on the head, murmuring reassuring words.

She went back to her bed reluctantly, wishing she could stay by Blake's side through the night.

At least her cape could.

* * *

 **As you can see, there's some conflicting feelings going on! Let's hope they don't last long ;D**

 **The chapter is titled after the lyrics from Amalee's version of Let Me Hear:**

" **I'll be there hold on. 'I'll save you somehow' so where are you now?"**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	52. Absolute Predator

Directly after class, teams RWBY and JNPR headed to the cafeteria.

Listening to boring lectures all day caused their stomachs to rumble.

Instead of going to the cafeteria, team JNPR walked through the kitchen. This caused team RWBY to be confused.

"Are we gettin' food or not?" Yang asked.

Team JNPR decided not to answer and just coaxed the other team to follow Nora's lead. Team RWBY ultimately elected to follow, wondering what was going on.

It was then that Nora suddenly stopped in front of a wall. Just an ordinary plain white wall.

"Um…" Yang mumbled. "Why're you staring at the wall?"

Nora, who was known for smashing anything and everything, lightly tapped the white wall.

Suddenly, the wall slid to the side. A door was revealed that blended in perfectly with its surroundings. The small door allowed people to enter.

Team RWBY glanced amongst each other, trying to reassure themselves that this secret door was in fact, real.

"Woah!" Ruby beamed.

"What the…" was all Blake could say.

"Do we go in there?" Yang asked.

Instead of answering, Nora skipped inside while humming a chipper tune. It was obvious she'd been inside several times before like it was the most casual thing in the world.

"Come on," Jaune said. "You gotta see what's inside!"

With that, team RWBY quickly followed.

After everyone entered, Nora flicked on the lights.

The room was simple. It had a marble floor. Most likely to make clean-up easier. Not only that, but the room also contained a dishwasher, stove, oven, microwave, and other kitchen appliances. Even a fridge for storage.

"A kitchen inside a kitchen?" Yang asked, exasperated.

"Kitchen-ception!" Ruby yelped in realization.

"Cool, huh?" Jaune asked.

Nora skipped over to the cupboard and pulled out some pancake mix. She stared at the bag and made a satisfied slurp sound.

"My goodness…" Weiss trailed off.

"How long has this been a thing?" Yang asked the other team.

"The whole year," Ren replied levelly. "Nora hasn't exploded this room yet, so that's a good sign."

"Remember when Nora exploded our room?" Jaune asked the team, which earned nods. "Headmaster Ozpin heard about that. To prevent that from happening again, he showed us this room!"

Yang gazed around in a daze. "If I didn't know any better I'd say this room was made just for your team."

"Maybe," Jaune replied. "We kinda assumed it was already here."

As the teams conversed, they headed over to the round table and took their seats.

Before Nora poured the pancake mix, she asked. "Who wants to help me make them?"

To Ruby and Yang's shock, Weiss and Blake raised their hands.

Ruby leaned in and lowly whispered. "Wait, are you serious?"

Weiss nodded. "We can't eat them, but we can make them."

Blake simply shrugged. "It's the least we can do. It sounds like fun."

Ruby and Yang weighed their words. A vampire's diet sure was troublesome in the human world. The vampire sisters were hiding it well, minus the pizza incident.

They felt somewhat obligated to help make the food. They couldn't eat the pancakes, but they've learned how to make them long ago. Knowing how to make some human foods helped them blend in with humans easier.

"Alright!" Nora cheered. "Get over here and get cooking!"

Luckily, there were aprons hanging on a rack, so the vampire sisters tied them on.

Over the years, they watched shows on TV about cooking. Even though they couldn't eat most human foods, some looked delicious. The vampire sisters find it interesting to see how the garbage was made.

Overall, they were just glad to be with their friends even though they couldn't eat what they were about to make.

Jaune leaned in to Ruby, his voice a low whisper. "Why can't they eat pancakes?"

"Oh uhh…." Yang interjected. "They're allergic."

Ruby silently thanked her quick-thinking sister.

Blake's cat ear flicked in amusement when she heard the excuse. It was technically not a lie. They were deathly allergic to pancakes. She was content with the explanation and stirred the ingredients she already put in the bowl.

"Yeah!" Ruby backed her up. "They have an allergic reaction if they eat pancakes."

Nora overheard the conversation and immediately set down the spoon on the counter. "What?!"

Ren sighed heavily. "Here we go…"

"You can't eat pancakes?! How'd you guys get so far in life without them?!"

The vampire sisters flinched from the sudden raised voice. Nora was yelling right by their ears.

"You'd be surprised," the heiress said knowingly.

Ruby and Yang giggled from the amusement in her tone.

Pyrrha watched the three make the treats. "I think it's wonderful that you're making food for us that you two can't even eat."

"Thanks, Pyrrha," Blake smiled.

"Do you guys want more help?" Jaune asked. "We're just sitting here."

"Nope," Nora stated. "You stay right there, captain. You'll get your delicious pancakes in no time!"

Ruby, Yang, Jaune, Ren, and Pyrrha took that as their cue to converse over Nora's rambling, which somehow got on the topic of sloths. Poor Weiss and Blake seemed to be regretting their decision to help.

It was true the two teams were engaged in conversation, but no matter how hard Ruby tried, her eyes kept wandering back to Blake in her apron.

 _Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!_ Ruby thought. _How? How is she so adorable?!_ she watched Blake wipe some of the wet mix on Weiss' arm, which elicited a playful glare. _So cute! AhgodI'mgonnadiefromcutenessoverloadhowisthispossible?!_

To add to the cuteness, Nora's constant rambling made Blake's cat ears flick every other second. Ruby simply melted into her seat from the sight.

Meanwhile, Yang was thinking the same thing about Weiss. She looked so cute in her apron. Yang made a few comments during her conversation, but it was clear she was distracted watching the three behind the marble counters work together.

"Ren," the blonde called. "You need to make Nora tone it down when it comes to practice matches."

Ruby held her hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle. "We thought Scarlet would die."

"She can't help herself," Pyrrha chimed. "She's like that during team practice as well."

"It's just how she is," Jaune dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "Most of the time, I'm the one who takes her hits full force. Pyrrha on the other hand can deflect them no problem."

"She gets frustrated when she can't hit Pyrrha," Ren commented with mirth.

"Can you blame me?" Pyrrha said. "Her hammer is terrifying."

That made everyone at the table chuckle.

"What's everyone laughing at?" Nora asked. "Do I have something on my face?" she turned to face Weiss. "Do I?"

Weiss almost cringed from how close Nora leaned into her face. After she slightly pushed her away, she said. "No."

"Huh," to make sure there was nothing on her face, Nora used her sleeve to wipe her cheeks. Just in case.

The action caused white powder to mark her cheek.

Blake simply stared at her in amusement, a small smirk formed. "You're good."

"We're in the clear!" Nora cheered.

Blake's sly comment caused Weiss to almost giggle.

Nora grinned and flipped the pancakes over on the stove. The vampire sisters followed her lead, flipping the treats every now and then.

For fun, Blake tried to flip one high in the air. She used to watch the professional chefs do that on T.V. and decided to give it a try. However, she lost her grip on the spatula and the half-cooked pancake flew across the room.

The vampire sister's heads turned to watch where it hit-

Right in Jaune's face as he was talking.

Nora, Blake and Weiss giggled softly as they watched Jaune process what just happened. His tablemates Yang, Ruby, Pyrrha, and Ren simply stared in amusement, letting slip some snickers.

Instead of complaining, Jaune flicked his tongue and tasted some of the batter.

The cooked part of the pancake slowly slid off his face and landed on the table with a plop.

Everyone stared at the pancake with grins, then focused on Jaune.

"It's pretty good," Jaune glanced up at the three behind the stove.

Knowing what he was thinking, Blake pointed to Nora with a sheepish grin.

Nora's jaw dropped from the accusation. "It wasn't me I swear!"

Jaune simply used a napkin to clean the half powder-half liquid mess. "Uh-huh," he replied in an not convinced tone.

Nora just sighed in defeat and dipped her head, knowing there was no changing his mind. The vampire sisters snickered from her reaction.

After the small incident, the pancakes were finished and served to everyone except the vampire sisters.

"Thanks for the meal!" Yang beamed and before she took a bite, Nora drenched syrup on Yang's plate. "Uh, Nora?"

"Yeeees?" Nora's giddy grin was present as she kept pouring the sweet syrup on the pancakes.

"I think that's enough," the blonde said and pulled her plate away.

"Enough?" Weiss scoffed. "Your pancakes are ruined."

The couple of pancakes were swamped in maple syrup. Yang liked syrup, but too much of the sugary goodness made her sick.

"Here," Pyrrha slide her plate over to her friend. "I'm not going to eat all of them," when she saw Nora's dejected expression she quickly added. "I'm not hungry is all! Your pancakes are the best!"

That perked her teammate up as she devoured her own plate.

"You sure?" Yang asked.

"Go ahead," Pyrrha said as she took a bite from one of the two pancakes.

"Thanks a ton," with permission, Yang also chewed on the soft deliciousness.

The vampire sisters simply sat there. It was a pleasant, warm atmosphere. The entire room smelled like fluff and sugar. It was oddly satisfying to watch their friends eat their creation.

When the teams were done devouring their meals, they headed back to their respective rooms.

As usual, team RWBY was greeted by their giddy ball of fur. Zwei barked excitedly, his tail wagging non-stop as he nuzzled Ruby's neck.

Yang and Weiss followed suit, cooing and planting kisses all over his face. Blake simply stared at the spectacle and was relieved when the little corgi didn't approach her. In fact, the smart dog just gave her a giddy gaze of acknowledgement and soaked up the affection he was getting.

Living with him was becoming tolerable.

After everything settled down, Blake wanted to get something off her chest. In the silence, now was as good a time as any.

She took a deep breath.

"Guys, Yang and I talked yesterday and decided to call Cardin if he wasn't in class today. And he wasn't, so-"

"You're worried about him?" Weiss asked in disbelief. "After what he did to us?"

Defeating Weiss in their fight. Which almost caused her to lose her life.

Defeating Blake in a sparring match because he used his pureblood power in front of dozens of humans.

Both scenarios unforgettable. Etched into their minds.

"It's just…" the blood-faunus couldn't put her finger on it. "He hasn't been in class since Cinder attacked us. Doesn't that ring some alarm bells?"

"Yeah," Yang added. "It really is odd."

Weiss bit her lip in frustration. Her sister had a valid point.

Cinder's name always sent a shock up Ruby's spine. "You're right, Blake," she admitted. "We should be worried. Even though he's a big fat meanie, that doesn't mean he's safe."

"He's powerful enough to take care of himself," the heiress huffed and crossed her arms in defiance. "But if you want to call him, I won't stop you."

With permission, Blake took out her scroll. After finding Winchester's contact number, she hit the 'call' button and waited. The four teammates huddled around her scroll in a circle. To help them properly hear, Blake put it on speaker mode.

The scroll ringed a few times. Each moment that passed caused them to lean in with more anticipation.

Finally, the scroll stopped beeping. Which meant he answered the call.

Blake's cat ears flicked in acknowledgement and she started speaking as her team crowded around her in curiosity.

* * *

Cinder tossed the corpse on the cold hard floor like it was garbage.

After defeating him in a fight, it didn't take long for her to feel a surge of new power course through her system. It was intoxicating in the best way possible. Shockwaves rippled through all her veins.

Cinder laughed maniacally as she stared at her hands, which glowed an ominous red. Every part of her grew from the sudden power. Her eyes shifted to blood-red and a wicked smile slipped on her lips.

"He had the power of _two other_ purebloods!" Cinder exclaimed as she held her arms out. For some reason, that position helped the new power spread quicker.

With satisfaction, she stared at the bloodied corpse. Pleasure sparked in her system from the results.

This was _way_ better than what she expected.

She certainly didn't expect to rob so much power from _one_ pureblood.

It was like a three in one deal that was on sale.

"No wonder why he put up a good fight," Emerald stated. "Wait, weren't his parents murdered?"

From her comment, that caused them to think. Now that they thought about it, there were mysterious circumstances regarding the boy's parents when they died.

Cinder glared at the corpse with a wicked smile. "This pureblood…" she chuckled darkly. "He killed his own parents out of greed!"

"So he was like me," Mercury stated as a fact and kicked the corpse in boredom. "Can't blame him."

Emerald sauntered over to the corpse, surprised to see his scroll was ringing in his pocket. A faint light glimmered through his pants and the three glanced among each other.

"Someone's calling him," Emerald observed.

"You should answer," Mercury smirked. "It could be interesting."

After Emerald received a nod of consent from her superior, she leaned down and grabbed his scroll.

She hit the 'answer' button and set it on speaker mode. She held out the scroll for her comrades to listen carefully.

"Hey, Cardin, it's Blake. We haven't seen you since that bitch Cinder attacked us..."

From the insult, Cinder's eye twitched in irritation. A frown took place of her sly smile.

"...We aren't worried since you're strong," Blake continued, but then the phone cut to a new voice.

"Even though you're a jackass," Emerald gathered it was the blonde bimbo. "We wanted to warn you about her."

There were some static noises and the voice was back to Blake's concerned tone.

"You there?"

With Cinder's silent command, Emerald pressed the 'end call' button.

* * *

Blake recoiled from the phone when it was abruptly hung up. Her cat ears flicked in annoyance. "The asshole hung up!"

"What'd you expect?" Weiss rolled her eyes in frustration. "He's a douche. I thought we established this."

The aristocrat sighed. "I hope he listened."

"Don't worry about him, kitten," Yang beamed a reassuring smile. "I'm sure he's fine."

"Besides, we have other things to worry about," Ruby reminded. "We need to focus on the assignment doctor Oobleck gave us."

Oddly enough, that comment lifted Blake's spirits. "You're right."

Weiss nodded in agreement. "Where's your textbook?"

Zwei yipped and pranced over to Blake with her textbook in his mouth. The blood-faunus gave him a weird look, which caused the little corgi to set the book on the carpet. Like he was proud of himself, his tongue lolled to the side as he panted happily.

Maybe, just maybe Blake would've appreciated the gesture. Too bad the book was drenched in drool and slobber.

"Yeah, I'm gonna use a different one."

* * *

 **The chapter is titled after Amalee's version of Let Me Hear:**

" **We are all 'absolute predators' we do not even have any enemies."**

 **Cardin's parents were kinda like Kaname's parents in the anime Vampire Knight. It was presumed his parents died from suicide (like Cardin's) but they were murdered (like Cardin's)! Both pairs were killed out of greed, which is what Cardin said when we first met him. How nice. That also explains why he acted so casual about the sensitive topic. Not exactly the brightest banana in the bunch.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**

 **Lol Cinder is butthurt.**


	53. Three Then Four

Qrow knew this day would come.

It was only a matter of time.

Over the course of a few days, the paperwork for the Schnee Dust Company piled up.

Of course, Winter was the one stuck filling out mountains of papers for the benefit of the company.

This included classified information like dealing with the White Fang. Each paper had to be handled with the utmost care and required her attention.

Activities in the organization spiked recently, hence the sudden rise in her work. Winter was used to hard work, but it was just too much.

Qrow wished he could help her, he really did, but he didn't know the first thing about thoroughly running a business. He'd only be in the way.

All he could do was be there with her. Winter didn't like to be bothered when she was in the zone, but sometimes she would take the occasional break, that is, if Qrow convinced her or forced her to. So, when she adamantly refused to pry her eyes away from the paperwork for only a second, he knew the inevitable would happen.

Winter got sick.

It was difficult for purebloods to become ill because of their many gene benefits, which included healthier immune systems. A pureblood's immune system was more resilient than most living things in Remnant. Because of this, Qrow knew whatever this illness was, it was strong enough to take out a pureblood and wasn't something to trifle with.

The last thing a pureblood should do is brush off an illness like Winter had done.

Qrow was painfully aware she was plagued red in the face for a while, but he left her side for a few minutes to get her a fresh blood bag. When he was near the office, there was the thumping of books hitting the carpet. That's when he rushed in and found her on the cold floor in an unnatural position.

After a frantic gasp, he tried to rouse her, but no matter what he did, she remained unconscious while panting for breath.

 _She finally worked herself to the bone,_ Qrow thought, now by her bedside. _Guess what, Winter? I'm not letting you get up for anything until you're better._

Naturally, the worried bodyguard didn't want Winter on the floor the entire night. That would make her feel worse, so he carried her to her own bedroom where the two currently were.

Her white hair a free-flowing blanket of white and draped all around her.

His warm hand grasped her own while she got some much-needed sleep. It felt wrong to leave her, so he was determined to stay with her the whole night.

He was always by her side. This time was no different.

He'd been there for a few hours and there was no change in her condition. Then he thought of something as he gazed at her red face that rivaled the color of a tomato. One of the things he could do to help was set a cool cloth on her torrid forehead.

While he cursed his negligence for not thinking of that sooner, Qrow reluctantly left Winter's side. Not wanting to leave her for too long, he rushed to the nearest bathroom to retrieve a cloth.

After running the soft cloth under cold water, he scampered back into her room and set it on her forehead.

That seemed to rouse her, and she slowly woke up after a weak groan.

Soft red met misty azure pools. The huntsman carefully leaned over her with worry.

"Qrow..."

"Hey, Winter," Qrow soothingly greeted, his worried gaze bore down on her. "Are you feeling okay?"

Winter weighed his words and set her jaw. If she was honest, she wasn't healthy at all. She felt ill, and was still exhausted. Every muscle in her body ached, and it was hard just to keep her eyes open. Her vision swam in and out of focus. The more she tried to see one Qrow, the more she saw multiple. She hadn't felt this badly since she jumped out the window and received injuries on _that_ night.

But she didn't want him to know her true condition. Seeing him worry this much hit a pang in her heart.

"Yes," she airily replied. "I'm fine."

That response earned a frown.

"Lying doesn't suit you."

The pureblood dismissed his comment and after a deep breath, gathered the remains of her energy to slowly sit up.

"The company..."

It was then that she looked down on her lap and noticed the damp cloth, or in her case, three damp cloths.

"Huh?"

Qrow picked it up and gently pressed it against her forehead, which earned a relieved sigh.

After that, Qrow sensed she couldn't keep herself upright much longer, so he scooted closer and held her in a gentle embrace.

"You're taking it easy," the huntsman murmured. "Forget the company for now, okay? You can't do much when you feel like crap."

If Winter could give him a scoff, she would now. However, she had almost no energy after sitting up. Right now, she felt completely drained as she leaned onto Qrow for support.

The huntsman thought back to the position he found her in earlier. Worry struck his heart to see her like that. When he found her, there was a pure spike in his adrenaline, something he hadn't felt in a while. Concern tore apart his heart with fierce claws.

"But father-"

"Don't worry about him," Qrow tried to persuade. "I'm sure Wilford'll understand if you take some time off. He wouldn't want his precious daughter working while you're sick anyways."

"But-"

"No buts, you're resting until you're healthy again," Qrow wouldn't take 'no' for an answer.

Winter looked like she was about to retort, but the huntsman cut her off.

"You need to take better care of yourself. You aren't responsible for just yourself anymore, you know…"

That made her feel guilty, but the result was exactly what he wanted.

A soft sigh rang out, and Winter laid down with the help of Qrow's hand that coaxed her down on the mattress.

"That's more than I like it," he sent her a smile. "Do you want something to eat or do you want to sleep?"

When a vampire is sick, they are more prone to their urges. If Winter wanted human blood, Qrow might as well get her some before she was tempted to bite him. Although that was highly unlikely. In his years of knowing her, she had never once lost control of her vampire urges and was always composed.

If she did want blood, he didn't want her to lay there and suffer more than she already was. She was uncomfortable enough. Blood had some healing elements to vampires, so it was also a good medicine for times like this.

Before she could give him a proper answer, she coughed a few times, which prompted Qrow to glide his fingers through her damp white bangs.

"Are you okay?"

"I will be," Winter tried to answer with conviction, but it came out feeble. "Blood-soup would be nice."

"One order of blood-soup comin' up," the huntsman grinned.

From his reply, she gave him a tired, weak smile.

He'd only made blood-soup twice before. Each time was for the younger vampire siblings, Weiss and Blake. Now he would make the dish for every vampire sibling.

It wasn't hard to make blood-soup. Not at all. All Qrow had to do was pour blood into a bowl and heat it up in a microwave. The stench made him cringe every time without fail. After the blood was heated up, he'd break apart some bread and scatter it in the bowl. The bread would soak up the red liquid and the result looked like chunky blood clots.

With Qrow being human, he found the whole thing gross, but he'd be lying if he said it was the worst thing he'd ever seen.

It was strange to him that the dish was the family's favorite treat, but then again, blood-soup might be a vampire's dish equivalent to a human's pizza.

Who was he to judge?

When he noticed her icy pools vanished behind heavy eyelids, Qrow carefully leaned down and pecked her forehead. The only indication Winter gave that she felt the passionate contact was a soft hum.

"I'll be right back."

He received no reply as he glided to the door. To make sure she was okay, he glanced back, pleased to see that she was trying her best to rest.

The room was silent as Winter savored peaceful moment.

Qrow was right, she had worked hard lately, and now it was time to take advantage of the time to rest her body.

It didn't take long for her to feel lonely without his presence. She was never used to being _completely_ alone. Qrow was usually always with her, so it was an odd feeling, especially since she'd grown accustomed to everything about him.

Thoughts of Qrow overrode her mind, and soon enough, her overheated hand rested on her stomach.

Winter constantly drifted in and out of consciousness, but she was determined to stay awake to greet him.

There were a few shivers that rocked her body every now and then because of the chills. That was the only thing that kept her from slipping into slumber.

For a couple of minutes, her body no longer shuddered from her generated body heat under the blankets.

Sleep almost took her...

Thankfully, Qrow walked in right before she lost her grip on consciousness. The smell of blood jolted her body awake. Just watching the steam rise from the bowl caused her mouth to almost drool.

"Are you awake?"

"You're back," the pureblood murmured.

"Yeah, with your favorite," Qrow informed.

Winter answered with a simple hum, her eyes barely opened. She didn't know what she was happy about more, him being back or the delectable thick red liquid.

After he sat on the mattress next to her, Qrow propped up the pillows behind her. He noticed she tried to sit up on her own, realized her efforts, and coaxed her to a sitting position.

"I hope you like it."

"Of course I will," she replied.

Instead of his signature smirk, Winter managed to cause Qrow to have another goofy grin.

Thinking she couldn't wait a second longer for the meal, Qrow carefully brought the spoon to her mouth. Unsurprisingly, her fangs popped out from excitement before she bit down.

"Is it good?"

"Yes."

A small chuckle.

"What?"

"I can tell," the huntsman pointed to her daggers she called teeth.

Winter pouted. "I can't help it."

"I'm not making fun of you. I think it's adorable."

Qrow didn't think it was possible for her face to get even more red. Winter's new complexion provided competition for the blood-soup.

Since Winter kept shaking every so often, Qrow decided it was better to feed her. She seemed embarrassed at first, but after some time the pureblood got used to it and ended up thoroughly enjoying the meal.

It didn't take long for her to finish the blood-soup. When the bowl was clean, Qrow set it on the nightstand that was next to the bed.

Another shiver.

Qrow worriedly gazed at Winter.

"Are you cold?"

Winter clutched the blankets and pulled them up. "N-no."

He rolled his eyes. She was such a terrible liar.

With a grin, Qrow joined her under the covers beside her.

"What're you doing?" Winter asked. She didn't sound alarmed, she was more curious than anything.

"Warming you up," he slid closer to her, offering up his body heat to keep the pureblood warm.

"But-" she tried to argue, but the heat that his body generated was too much to resist, and Winter curled into the source of warmth.

Winter let out a relieved sigh when his toasty feet and body enshrouded a blanket of warmth around her.

"Try to get some sleep now," Qrow adjusted Winter's warm body, and wrapped one of his strong arms around her waist.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, he began to stroke her ivory, silky tresses to coax her to sleep.

Winter nuzzled herself into the crook of his neck.

"Qrow…"

"Yeah?"

"Promise me..."

That made him glance down at the dozing vampire. "Promise what?"

"That you'll protect my family... My family…"

The huntsman could only gaze at the half-asleep woman in his arms. She sounded delirious, yet earnest at the same time. He couldn't pick which, but supposed it was both.

He didn't know what would make her suddenly say that, but he had a hunch it was because of the things that had happened in the past. Her younger siblings were recently attacked, and it was obvious to him that she was deeply affected by that.

He also understood that she placed and cherished her family above all else.

"Of course I'll protect them. I promise."

Years ago, he had vowed to protect Winter. Presently, that was unspoken since it went without saying. Although Winter doesn't have a duty to protect Qrow, he knew she'd do the same.

Before sleep could claim her, Winter managed to give Qrow's hand three gentle squeezes.

He barely felt them, but the fact that she managed to do it in her state made his heart flutter…

That made him genuinely smile and he kissed her forehead one more time.

He gave her four in return.

* * *

A few days later, Winter made a full recovery.

There were no signs of her illness anymore. Over the course of a couple of days, Qrow worked vigorously to get her well again.

She deeply appreciated how hard he worked. How often he stayed by her side...

How he didn't want to leave.

When she was healthy again, Winter reminded Qrow of their promise that night.

To honor their promise, the pureblood and bodyguard left the castle for an undisclosed amount of time.

They wouldn't be gone for long, but they didn't know when exactly they would be back.

The only thing they could do was pack the vital things they'd need for the mission ahead.

Before heading out, Qrow and Winter slung their coats around their backs.

A vast sea of snow lay before them. There was a chilly breeze that accompanied the cold weather. Thankfully, they were both prepared for the journey.

The pureblood and bodyguard looked at each other knowingly.

"Ready, Winter?"

Pale blue eyes warped to a deep tint of red, her tone solemn.

"Let's go."

* * *

 **The three and then four hand squeezes must mean something, right? But what? Hmmmmmmm… and what're they up to? Hmmmmm...**

 **WHO CARES RIGHT NOW DAT FLUUUUUFF THO!~**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	54. Affections

Casually, Weiss was sitting on her bed trying to study. A textbook was in her lap as her eyes examined the page. She'd been focusing for close to half an hour until she felt her scroll in her pocket vibrate.

She sighed, wishing the distraction didn't interrupt her concentration.

Until she realized who was calling her. Her lips slipped to a faint smile from the naming flashing on the screen.

"Guys," Weiss said to her teammates. "Winter's calling."

Her three friends were already quiet due to studying, and remained silent as Weiss joined them in the middle of the room. Multiple books were scattered on the carpet. Yang and Ruby were already laying on the floor, playfully turning the pages every now and then. Blake scooted over next to Weiss, who was eyeing the scroll.

Blake spoke since she was curious.

"What do you think she wants?"

"Possibly an update," the heiress gathered.

"Yeah, probably," Yang agreed.

Ruby and Yang were eager to see the eldest Schnee sister and possibly even see Qrow. Since the team was gathered in the center of the room, Zwei joined them and barked in excitement.

"C'mere, you!" the blonde gently nuzzled and coaxed him to her lap.

"Hurry and answer," Ruby beamed.

"Okay, okay, dolt."

Not wanting to wait, Weiss slid her finger across the scroll to answer the video call.

It didn't take long for Winter and Qrow to appear on screen.

"Hey," Qrow greeted. "Troublemaker, firecracker, kiddos… and Zwei?"

A yip.

Yang pat her dog's head lovingly. "We're taking care of him while dad's on a mission."

"Typical Tai," Qrow playfully rolled his eyes. "That little ball of energy can live in a single room? Zwei, how do you do it?"

He barked once, which caused one of Blake's cat ears to flinch in annoyance.

The vampire sisters studied the room Qrow and Winter were in, finding it strangely foreign. The pair weren't in Winter's study room. The vampire sisters were sure they'd never seen that room before. From what they could gather, the walls were made of wood and the place seemed far more humble than their castle.

"Winter," Blake called. "Where are you?"

In a mere moment, Winter's cheeks flushed. Once stern blue eyes pried away from her sisters as they landed on the smirking Qrow.

"How about you tell them?"

Qrow adorned a small grin, something Yang and Ruby weren't used to. Normally, their uncle was smirking. Now, he was genuinely smiling.

"I made her take a break."

"I told you I didn't want a break," the pureblood replied sternly. "The company requires my constant attention."

"Company shmompany," Qrow waved off. "We both know you needed a break, so don't deny it."

"I denied no such thing."

From the mention of the company, Weiss felt guilty. After all, she was the one who would have to take over one day. She didn't want her precious sister to overwork herself in her place.

Qrow pointed at Winter in amusement. "You know how much of a workaholic she is."

"Thank you, Qrow," the heiress said earnestly. "Winter can go overboard with that sort of thing sometimes."

"I know," the huntsman replied solemnly. "That's why I forced her to come out here."

"Where are you?" Blake asked.

"We're not too far from the castle," Qrow mentioned. "I just wanted to get her outta that boring place. Being cooped up in there all day is suffocating."

" _Castle_!?" Yang shouted and stared at the vampire sisters in disbelief. "You lived in a _castle_ before coming here?!"

Blake always thought the castle was impressive. Since joining the Schnee family, she never got used to her new home. Her old cabin home paled in comparison to the giant mansion. Because she knew how lucky she was, she never took the castle for granted. Or her adoptive family. Any normal person who laid eyes on the castle would have their breath taken away.

Of course, Weiss and Winter viewed it as any other home. They didn't think it was anything special. Just the place where they grew up. However, they knew it was different from most homes. But to them, it was exactly that… home. It just happened to be a castle.

The three Schnee sisters had grown up isolated in the castle, so they thought the place was cold and lonely. Despite these feelings, it was also home. Where they were welcomed and loved by their family.

"It's not a big deal," Weiss replied. "It's just our home."

Ruby was gawking at the thought of a castle. "We gotta see it some day!"

Zwei barked, as if he agreed with the leader.

Blake rolled her eyes from their reactions. "Maybe one day," she glanced at the small corgi. "I don't know about you, though."

Zwei whimpered softly in response. His gray beady eyes dove into Blake's amber ones.

"Of course he can," Qrow exclaimed. "Wouldn't you like that, boy?"

Zwei's tongue lolled to the side with a grin.

Winter playfully slapped Qrow on the arm. "Don't invite animals to our home without permission."

The vampire sisters noticed she used the term 'our.' They were so glad Winter and her bodyguard seemed to be getting along well after all those years of constant bickering. It was obvious the two were close.

Qrow cleared his throat and held his hand out. "My bad, my lady. Can Zwei visit the castle?"

Winter didn't seem affected at all by the fact that he called her 'my lady.' Like it was the most normal thing in the world. Meanwhile, Blake and Weiss were extremely confused. Qrow usually addresses her as the 'ice queen.'

'My lady' was etiquette for addressing female purebloods. Maybe Qrow was just poking fun at that. Either way, the result had Winter blushing all over again.

Yang and Ruby were just happy Qrow was constantly around a great person. Winter was not like those women Qrow used to meet in bars. She was a positive influence on him.

From Qrow's goofy grin, Winter lightly giggled and placed her hand in his. "Now that you asked, how could I possibly say no?"

Their fingers entwined as they gazed into each other's eyes...

Ruby fake coughed into her hand. "We're still here, ya know."

Winter and Qrow snapped out of their stupor and pulled their hands apart, both slightly blushing. While those two were flat out embarrassed, the vampire sisters enjoyed the fact that they weren't arguing. The pair even showing some type of affection for one another.

"How's Beacon?" Winter asked in hopes to switch the subject

"It's great," the aristocrat assured. "Now that they know we're vampires, things are so much easier."

Zwei barked again like he agreed. Yang still holding the little dog in her arms and she gave him another peck on the head.

"That reminds me," Blake stated. "This is might be a stupid question, but can dogs know about vampires?"

Qrow held his chin in thought. "I don't know about dogs in general, but Zwei is different from other dogs. He has an aura and is much more intelligent."

"He's a tough cookie!" Ruby beamed as she rubbed his fur. "He's like a hunter, but he's a dog… a dog hunter!"

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose. "That makes no sense, dolt."

As if to agree with the heiress, Zwei yipped again.

"So that's a maybe?" the blood-faunus asked, still curious.

"Zwei's smart," Ruby informed. "It wouldn't surprise me if he knew."

Blake simply shrugged in agreement, having witnessed displays of the little dog's intelligence before. It wouldn't be odd to assume the corgi was aware.

"We're glad everything is going well," Winter chimed. "Is there anything you wanted to tell us?"

"Yes," Yang replied without thought. "Weiss is still as salty as ever!"

"Hey!" the heiress yelped. "That's not funny, brute."

Winter let out a small laugh. "It kind of is."

Weiss felt betrayed. "Winter, what the heck!?"

"We're gonna go now," Qrow placed a gentle hand on Winter's shoulder, an action that made her blush. "We'll see you later."

"Bye, Qrow," Yang replied. "Have fun, but not _too_ much fun," she sent a wink.

Winter blushed again when she noticed Qrow wink back with a grin.

"Bye, uncle Qrow!" Ruby chirped. "Seeya soon!"

"Yeah, seeya kiddos," Qrow replied, a smug grin present.

Winter stared into the camera and her azure orbs locked onto her younger siblings. "I love you," she said solemnly and earnestly, her eyes were honest and shinned pure innocence.

The vampire sisters were caught off guard from the sudden shift in tone, but they shrugged it off.

"I love you," Blake replied, her tone just as sincere.

"I love you, too," Weiss said, meaning every word. "We'll see you soon."

Winter smiled and nodded before hanging up the call.

When it was silent, Zwei barked. His beady gaze was directly on Blake.

"What?" the aristocrat asked the dog in annoyance. "What do you want?"

The small corgi eagerly panted and hopped out of Yang's lap. He slowly approached her, making sure she wasn't uncomfortable from his presence. His broad ears lowered as a sign of submission and he let out a small whimper.

Blake just sighed and held out her hand.

The gesture told Zwei he could sniff her hand softly. During the display, her teammates watched in astonishment. Encouraged, the aristocrat gently scratched the corgi's wide ears. This caused his leg to itch his belly.

Blake couldn't help but grin at the amusing sight. Her long nails still rubbed his bulky head.

"I'm proud of ya, kitten," Yang smiled at her partner.

The blood-faunus quickly pulled away from the comment. Zwei's eager pants seized as he tilted his head in confusion.

"He'd keep bothering me if I didn't do it," Blake replied easily.

"Suuuuuuure," Weiss said knowingly. " _That's_ why you willingly pet him."

Blake wanted nothing more than to wipe that infuriating smirk off her sister's face.

"Oh, oh," Ruby chimed like she had an epiphany. "That reminds me, who wants to walk him tonight? Weiss isn't allowed to."

"Hey!"

"You gotta pick up the poop, princess," Yang said. "We can't have Ozpin find out."

While Weiss pouted, Zwei faced Blake and barked once.

"I think Zwei wants you to take him," Ruby observed.

"What?!" Blake yelped. "No way!"

"Just once, kitten?" Yang practically begged. "Pwease? Look at his wittle face."

Zwei changed his typical eager expression to his signature puppy dog eyes that were equated to Ruby's, only cuter if that was possible. He whimpered and crouched to the floor. A paw gently grazed Blake's stocking.

"You're the chosen one," Ruby stated.

With that measly display of begging, Blake couldn't just say no. No matter how much the little corgi annoyed her.

"Uh," Blake almost whined. "Fine."

* * *

 **Cuuuuuuuute.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	55. Fire Versus Ice

As soon as Winter hung up the phone, she faced Qrow in annoyance.

"Of all the things you could have said, you said we're taking a break?"

"That's what we're doing though, right?" Qrow asked with a grin.

"Well," Winter almost scoffed. "We _are_ away from home and the company, but this is far from a break."

Qrow walked over to the front door and grabbed his cape off the coat hanger, an action that made Winter playfully roll her eyes. When they first entered the cabin, she teased him for using the _coat_ hanger for a cape.

He wrapped his cape around his body like he'd done a hundred times and stared back at her knowingly. The door propped open, which allowed a cool breeze to enter.

"Are we gonna kill her or not?" he asked casually. "We've been looking around for days. I want to make this worth it."

Winter followed his lead with a smirk. "I don't know about kill. More like… punish."

"Sounds kinky," Qrow commented.

Winter scowled from his childish response.

Before she could reply, Qrow continued. "That _woman_ needs to be put down."

"An interesting choice of words," Winter remarked. "She's not an animal, you know."

"Anyone who hurts my niece and kiddos is scum," Qrow quipped.

That's right…

Ruby was hurt because of her.

Winter felt guilty for almost forgetting that, especially because of how much Qrow loves his niece.

The two began their trek through the snow-covered woods.

In Atlas, snow was abundant so it was like a winter paradise.

Before, they set up camp in a cabin they found in the forest.

The bodyguard and pureblood were ready to begin the search again.

Winter's eyes shifted red. The color matched Qrow's own.

"She targeted and tried to kill my little sister. She's not getting away with this."

"Blake and Weiss are like my daughters," Qrow mentioned. "So I understand you're in protective sister mode right now. I'm pissed they got attacked too, but you have to remember we're not the only ones risking our lives to find the culprit."

Winter gently set a hand on her stomach and gazed at Qrow.

"I'm well-aware."

Qrow genuinely smiled. "Let's focus."

After nodding, the two scoured the surrounding area. From what they could gather, the dangerous vampire was hiding somewhere in this area. To guarantee the pureblood line's safety, Winter and Qrow had taken it upon themselves to hunt down the woman who tried to kill Weiss and Ruby.

Cinder.

After a couple of hours of hiking, Qrow and Winter stumbled upon another random cabin in the woods. From the sight, they released their weapons and crouched to the snow-covered ground, inching closer and closer to the humble abode.

They glanced amongst each other reassuringly. After Qrow gave the simple wave, Winter kicked down the cabin's door. The kick was so powerful the door busted off its hinges.

Her rapier was poised as she stood tall.

Instantly, she was pelted with a blast of flames. The fire would have been a direct hit, but she was able to use her weapon to block in time. The inferno blasted passed her and created two separate lines. Since the fury wasn't letting up, she jumped backward outside. Her feet safely met snow.

Through the smoke, the pureblood saw their target. The infamous woman who was in multiple White Fang reports.

Before Qrow could assist her, there was a blast of smoke behind him. The dark cloud skewered his view. Qrow narrowed his eyes menacingly through the smoke, challenging any who dared keep him away from his partner. His sword was in the air, ready to strike anyone who dare get near.

There was a girl with green hair and guy with gray hair. The two emerged from the smog with well-defined smirks.

Qrow scoffed. "You're the ones they mentioned. Let's see here," he gazed at the duo with calculating eyes. "Moss here must be Emerald."

His comment caused Emerald to frown.

"And this little douche must be Mercury."

"What of it?" Emerald asked with force in her tone.

"You're all bark and no bite," the bodyguard smirked. "Face it, you guys got dominated by them."

"Tch," Mercury huffed. "Tell that to your niece."

From the snide remark, Qrow raised his eyebrows.

This guy had no idea what he was in for.

Qrow held out his sword. "You'll never lay a finger on her ever again."

Something inside Emerald snapped. She couldn't stop herself from charging at the man. Her dual sickles were ready to strike.

Her partner, Mercury, followed. He acted as her shadow.

Emerald clashed with the huntsman, but he blocked perfectly and could parry his opponent.

As Emerald stumbled backward, Qrow stole a glance at Winter, who was locked in fierce combat with their main priority.

He wanted nothing more than to join her side.

But Cinder's two followers needed to be taken care of first.

Plus, he knows Winter is one of the best fighters in Atlas. Willingly, he entrusted the crucial fight to her while he was locked in combat with her lackeys.

On the bright side, defeating her little henchmen was something he had to do anyways.

The only thing he could do was focus on the task at hand.

It's not like these two would last long.

He's a professional hunter.

Two snot-nosed brats are just a nuisance.

* * *

After blocking a kick to the face, Cinder jumped back several feet and scowled at her infuriatingly skilled opponent. She knew the Schnee would be tough, but she didn't think she'd be this skilled in all areas of combat.

While Cinder was busy pondering her opponent's weak points, it didn't take Winter long to realize that Cinder liked to focus on long ranged combat.

To stop her thought process, Winter called her out.

"How _dare_ you try to kill my sister!" the pureblood seethed, venom leaked in her voice. Her blood-red eyes were engulfed by a ring of fire. "You'll have to go through me first!"

Cinder's eyes narrowed in malice. "Very well."

From the immediate reply, Winter gathered her enemy really was trying to hunt down the remains of the fickle pureblood line.

The mere thought of her family being hurt and possibly killed by such a wicked woman…

It infuriated her.

She'd be damned if she let that happen.

Cinder conjured a fireball and hurled it at her, but Winter was swift and successfully blocked the burning sphere. The attack was weak, leading Winter to believe her opponent was plotting something. As a countermeasure, Winter used her zehn to create several ice shards and hurled them at her all at once.

To deflect, Cinder erupted into flames, successfully melting every sharp ice shard flown her way.

Winter grit her teeth in irritation. _Fire and ice, huh? I'm at a bit of a disadvantage,_ she thrusted her rapier into the ground. _That doesn't matter!_

From the force of the jab, Cinder was amused the pureblood was confident. Especially when she showed her she had an obvious disadvantage with the elements.

The glyph below Winter's feet emitted a pure white light. This light blended perfectly with the snow.

Dozens of tiny, screeching nevermores spawned.

Under her command, the mini grimm soared at her opponent.

Each tiny bird emitted a white glow as they clashed into red. Squawking, they glided past and through Cinder. Each strike dented her aura and zehn as they pecked her mercilessly.

In response to the swarm, Cinder snapped her fingers.

The simple snap filled the air. Echoing for what felt like miles. It was even louder than the birds' incessant screeches. Her followers Mercury and Emerald felt more protected and secure, knowing what their superior was planning.

Before Winter realized, dozens of beowolves emerged from the snowy forest. The black blobs were like puddles in the white. The menacing grimm pulled themselves upward, snarling and howling. Their eyes were dark red and practically pierced.

Winter had heard about the woman's powers before, but it was another thing to witness them.

Winter poised her weapon at the new horde and Cinder, who stood tall. "Is that part of your zehn?"

"What do you think?" Cinder simply smirked and snapped her fingers again.

From the command, the horde pounced.

 _That's a yes._

On instinct, Winter utilized her glyphs to jump on them in mid-air. This allowed her to impale each grimm while she had a clear view. Another advantage was that she was mostly out of danger as she scoured her enemies.

She had bountiful zehn and used the ice element to tear the horde apart. Although, she was the one who taught Blake and Weiss most of their combat moves, Weiss had taught her this clever one, thanks to the two sharing a semblance.

She faintly smiled from the memory while she stood on her stable glyph. After the last beowolf vanished, she glared at Cinder, who was glowering at the total obliteration of her grimm.

Winter defeated them like they were nuisances in one sweep.

Winter's icy daggers weren't one-hundred percent accurate and she missed a few beowolves.

Unfortunately, the few that got away lunged at her partner.

* * *

With Emerald's illusions, she was easily able to make Qrow believe Mercury was somewhere else.

At least that's what she thought.

As Qrow held his sword back like a bat, Mercury charged at him.

Before he did, Qrow pivoted on his heel. This was a total 180 as he spun around and slammed his sword into something.

That something, he learned, was the real Mercury. Just as the huntsman thought. The Mercury in front of him earlier was an illusion. The boy soared a hundred feet away and the hit elicited a weak grunt.

When that problem was dealt with, Qrow twirled around to annihilate the beowolves that had been creeping up on him.

Emerald was in awe at his precision and she stepped back to devise a plan. She didn't have time to prepare when Qrow lunged at her. Despite his swiftness, Emerald dodged several blows. When she kept evading, he elected to use his gun embedded in the weapon.

With every dodge, Emerald's smirk grew. What caught her off guard, however, was when Qrow jumped back several feet and shot a dust bullet.

She didn't have time to block as the ball of flame exploded, causing her to crash into the snow with smoke covering her body.

By that time, Mercury had started to kick up a nasty gust of whirlwind with his feet. He sent white orbs of light directly at the huntsman.

Qrow transformed his sword into a scythe and thrusted it into the ground. Instead of running, he figured this would be better.

Mercury watched as he pondered what the hell his opponent was planning.

The raging whirlwind rapidly approached Qrow, but he held his ground with sheer persistence. The only reason he was still standing was due to his tight grip on his weapon.

The longer he withstood his attack, the more pissed off Mercury got.

Like it was nothing.

Like it was _weak._

The mini tornado engulfed the man, but Qrow stubbornly stayed put, his cape flowing wildly. He shoved a finger in his mouth, making a _very_ sharp whistle noise, something Ruby had taught him.

It was so loud that even though he was in the middle of the wind storm, Winter whipped her head around from the signal. During her fight with Cinder, she failed to notice what was happening with her partner. After years of training together, they came up with a few signals and silent gestures to help aid each other in their time of need.

On instinct, Winter summoned a massive, pure white nevermore and sent it flying his way. The bird screeched from her command and flapped its wings at the tornado. Some snow was already caught in the blizzard, but now the storm was a snow hurricane.

The broad wings were so powerful that in a matter of seconds, the brutal gust of wind and harsh snow knocked Mercury and Emerald down. The two slammed into scattered trees that somehow didn't get knocked over.

The bird kept flapping at the tornado and eventually, the whirlwind Qrow was trapped in died. The forceful winds cancelled the other out. When it was safe, Qrow pulled his scythe out of the snow.

Directly after, he held his scythe in the air, a signal Winter recognized.

The pureblood narrowly dodged a jab from Cinder. She used her glyphs to gain momentum and flew to Qrow, more specifically, his weapon.

The two partners remembered Weiss and Blake's reactions whenever they practiced this technique in the training room back at the castle.

Pure awe.

The younger siblings said it reminded them of how their parents worked together.

Like no one could take them down.

Of course, that was a huge compliment, considering their pureblood parents were some of the fiercest fighters Remnant could offer.

The bodyguard and pureblood felt invincible whenever they were by each other's sides…

When they performed this attack, it was like they were on top of the world.

With precision, Winter landed on top of Qrow's sword. The man didn't even flinch from the extra weight.

The professional hunter started to spin in circles to gain momentum. To help, Winter casted a glyph below his feet, allowing him to whirl at unrivaled speeds.

He lifted his head up to face Winter while spinning ruthlessly. "Ready?!"

Winter casted a layer of ice over her entire body. She was glistening under the calm sun's rays. "Now!"

With a final rapid spin, Qrow launched Winter straight at Cinder, who was already shooting arrows at the flying target.

Somehow, Winter managed to dodge all the arrows while soaring through the air. With a war cry, she barely skid across the snow covered ground head-first. Without the extra weight added to her body, Winter would have leapt several feet high, but she needed to be brutal against her opponent and refused to hold back even an ounce of strength. Before Winter slammed into Cinder full force, Cinder used her bow to weaken the crushing blow.

From the impact, Qrow smirked at the amount of snow flailing in the air. There was a sickening crunch from the new dent in Remnant, which made him lose his balance. When he regained composure, he rushed over to help aid his partner in the fight, only to be met with a leg of steel.

The annoyingly persistent boy smirked. "Your fight is with us."

Qrow sent him a smug grin, egging him on. "Is that all you've got? Some wind? Lame."

Mercury said nothing and dropped to the ground.

His foot collided with Qrow's chin.

* * *

Meanwhile, Winter and Cinder were locked in melee combat.

It didn't take Winter long to realize Cinder was trying to snap her fingers.

 _How many grimm can she control?_ Winter asked herself. _For an aristocrat vampire, she's very powerful. Unless she really is a pureblood?_

Despite being in close combat, Winter couldn't prevent the vampire from snapping her fingers.

Multiple ursa and beowolves emerged from the snowy forest, snarling at their targets.

Winter gazed into those wicked blood-red eyes, noticing they were fatigued. Now that she thought about it, she herself felt tired as well.

 _I've been using too much zehn,_ Winter observed. _She has as well. If this fight comes down to endurance, I need to hold back._

While Cinder leapt back, she began shooting arrows at Winter with her bow. The pureblood focused on blocking the ursa's swipes, swiftly dodging every hit and arrow thrown at her.

From what Cinder gathered, it was like Winter had eyes in the back of her head. The skilled pureblood dodged every arrow aimed at her with expert reflexes, all while impaling her grimm from multiple angles.

After the horde was wiped out, Winter poised her rapier at her opponent and thrust it to the ground, summoning dozens of tiny nevermores.

 _Tiny grimm don't take nearly as much energy._

Cinder quickly reacted and snapped her fingers, calling for more beowolves to launch themselves at the flock.

 _How does she have this much energy?_ Winter asked herself as she stared down the horde. _Typically, an aristocrat doesn't have this much power or endurance._ A haunting feeling overwhelmed her. _She's not a normal vampire. She's more powerful than an aristocrat. If she's not a pureblood, then what is she?_

Despite worrying, Winter knew she put quite the dent in her opponent's zehn. Those tired eyes fooled no one. The pureblood was about to use her aura to block another grimm's attack with an ice shield, however, a dot whizzed past her field of vision.

That dot exploded in the middle of the pack of beowolves and sent Cinder flying backward.

Winter whipped her head around to see a smirking Qrow, who just blocked a shot from Emerald.

"Your fight is with us!" Emerald seethed. She didn't like the fact that he went after her master.

With a nod of acknowledgement at her most trusted bodyguard, Winter lunged at the downed Cinder.

Winter felt warm. Despite the coldness of the battlefield. She was warm.

She could always count on him to be there for her.

With this as her chance, Winter flared her zehn into her palm as she grabbed Cinder's shoulder forcefully. The intent was to freeze her entire form. As ice scoured some of Cinder's body, Winter felt something surge through her.

Her hand recoiled from a burning sensation. Her palms scorched and emitted smoke. At this point, Winter thought her opponent was vastly weakened, but she still had plenty of energy.

Enough to burn.

Cinder kicked her down, which earned a yelp.

The right arm that was once frozen over now emitted steam from the sheer amount of heat.

 _What is she?_ Winter tried to deduce. _How does she have so many powers?_

Cinder straddled her as Winter thought of what her opponent was.

 _No… she's not a pureblood!_ Winter gasped at the epiphany. _She has the_ _power_ _of a pureblood! Or… Or even multiple_. _That's it!_

Cinder emitted more fire as she straddled the downed pureblood, making her scream in agony.

That was the reaction Cinder was hoping for. She took pleasure at the face full of pain.

Qrow stiffened from his partner's whimpers. The two minions didn't matter anymore. He charged at Cinder, not allowing the lackeys to interrupt. He dropkicked Cinder's side and sent her sprawling to the ground with a grunt.

Qrow took Winter's hand and worriedly checked her over. "Are you okay?!"

Winter flicked her burning right wrist and waved him off. "Yes," she assured as she found her feet again. "I realized something. She's not just an aristocrat."

"Then what is she?" Qrow asked.

"She has the power of a pureblood, possibly multiple," Winter said solemnly. "I've no doubt. She's not one of my kind."

"Quiet you!" Cinder seethed.

"Ohhh," Qrow drawled. "Hit a nerve, did we?"

Winter put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't."

Winter knew more than anyone just how dangerous Cinder really was. The last thing she wanted to do was to make her even more livid.

Qrow sensed a hint of urgency in her tone, so he bit his tongue. "Right…"

In the midst of chatting, Cinder called for more grimm, which focused on the duo.

As the pureblood and bodyguard fought them off side-by-side, they also constantly dodged fireballs and a rain of bullets. When Qrow saw an opening, he pounced at Cinder, trusting Winter to handle the rest of the pack.

Cinder, he quickly realized, was just an illusion when he soared through it. Qrow whipped around to notice Emerald was clearly out of breath from using her semblance too many times.

It was then that Mercury slammed his leg into Qrow's gut. The huntsman flipped in the air by using his scythe as leverage and twirled back around, effectively returning the devastating blow.

Mercury however, regained his balance in time and rocketed a kick at him, only to have it meet Qrow's weapon in a stalemate.

While the bodyguard was handling them, Winter focused on the grimm. There were too many, so she elected to summon her own to fight against them. The real threat was on the sidelines.

Unacceptable.

Now that she knew just how dangerous her opponent was, she was willing to risk everything to rid the threat.

Especially if Cinder intended to kill off her family.

Cinder wasn't far away and was commanding from the shadows. She was visibly out of breath just like Winter.

Winter was almost panting as she readied to strike, her rapier poised.

 _This needs to end soon._

Cinder however, struck that thought down when she held out her hand. This time, she didn't snap her fingers. No, it was something that unsettled Winter even more. It was different. Meaning, her opponent had another trick up her sleeve.

Winter's eyes widened as she felt a presence invade her mind. The feeling was like no other. For a moment, it felt like she was possessed. Like something was forcefully creeping in her body. She clutched her ears in a feeble attempt to stop them from ringing.

 _What... is this?_

Icy eyes caught sight of Cinder's amused expression as she continued to hold her hand out. It was obvious the woman was controlling something she couldn't see.

Winter's sense of hearing was cut off completely. Her vision swam, only because of the pounding in her head. It was like a merciless gong. The pain was so excruciating she dropped to her knees.

 _This is what Blake and Weiss described…_

The agony stopped her from crying out, fearing that would make it worse. She shouldn't tear her gaze away from the enemy, but even using her sight was too painful for her to bear.

 _The other pureblood..._

While her opponent was down, Cinder pointed her bow and arrow at her enemy.

 _This is Cardin Winchester's power,_ Winter realized. _I must tell Qrow._

Cinder pulled the arrow back all the way passed her ear and directed it at the downed target.

And shot.

There was the sharp pierce when the arrow was released.

This snatched Qrow's attention.

His eyes trailed to the arrow's path as he reached out helplessly.

" **Winter** **!"**

* * *

 ***gasp* a cliffhanger! Sorry. Wait, no I'm not.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	56. I Keep Calling Out Your Name

" **Winter!"**

By some miracle, Qrow's desperate voice reached Winter's ears. Despite Winter being deaf due to Cinder's power, his plea somehow broke the unbearable silence.

In response, icy eyes shot open, only to see an arrow soaring straight to her.

In a nanosecond, the pureblood summoned an ice shield to block the attack. This was almost the remains of her zehn. As an extra precaution, she coated her body in a layer of ice.

She knew how strong Cinder was, so she didn't want to take any chances.

The arrow was about to hit the rectangular shield, but then Cinder's blood red eyes flamed yellow.

The arrow broke apart just before slamming into the ice and pulled back together on the other side.

There was a sickening crunch.

The breaking of ice.

And dead silence.

Winter felt something… and then she felt nothing.

Why couldn't she feel anything?

Her eyes trailed to her chest to understand why she felt this way.

 _Oh…_ Winter realized. _That's why..._

Somehow, the arrow evaded her steel ice barrier and pierced through the protective layer of ice over her skin. The sharp projectile struck her with such force it impaled her in the chest.

Since Winter was numb, she was even more shocked when she felt the remains of her energy were sapped.

 _That woman…_ Winter fell backward onto the soft snow. _Outwit me…_

"Winter!" Qrow yelped in desperation.

He watched her fall.

There was the daunting stain of red.

Hurriedly, the huntsman used the recoil on his scythe and flew at unrivaled speeds to his partner.

Mercury and Emerald just stood there, gazing at their leader with ever-present smirks.

Cinder signaled for them to leave. It was clear she was exhausted. The Schnee pureblood put up one hell of a fight. Not to mention, Cinder wasn't even expecting it.

"Our work is done here."

Cinder could tell her minions were worn out.

The three hobbled into the forest, leaving a frantic Qrow and silent Winter.

"Winter," Qrow coddled her head. "Winter, Winter say something!"

No response. Her eyes fluttered shut.

From the sight, Qrow gulped.

The vital liquid was seeping through her clothes and around the arrow.

Red swirled with white.

Winter cracked open a dreary eye and coughed, which caused her to spew up blood. Blood splattered onto the snow and her pure white outfit.

"P-please be okay," Qrow begged and put pressure on her wounds. His hands were coated in her blood. "Winter?" his voice cracked with misery.

With all her strength, Winter opened both eyes. Her vision was hazy, but she could tell that was the face of the man she'd come to adore. "I love you, Qrow," the pureblood managed to feebly say. "S-save… the baby…"

Tears cascaded down his cheeks and met Winter's own. Their tears mixed with each other's as he had an iron grip on her hand, for fear if he let go, she'd slip away.

"Don't say that," Qrow sniffled once. He placed his other firm, yet soft hand on her stomach. "You-you're not going anywhere, okay?"

Tears began streaming out of Winter's eyes. Somehow, she managed to find the strength to place her hand over his on her stomach. The pureblood cracked a faint smile, both eyes firmly on Qrow.

"They have… the best father in the world…"

Winter felt her vision fading and her hearing was failing her.

She knew she didn't have much time.

She felt herself slipping from reality. The lonely numbness overwhelmed her.

The little grip she had on Qrow's hand was slowly fading.

"Tell-" she managed to choke out. "Tell my family I love them..."

Her voice wavered halfway through. Like she didn't have the measly energy to finish.

Qrow gently brushed away her tears. "Don't say that! Y-you're not-!"

Before her eyes fluttered shut, Winter lightly, so feebly, squeezed his hand three times. It was such a light grip that Qrow almost didn't feel it.

From the gesture, his heart seized. Like time was frozen.

Despite the tense situation, he did what he always did.

He gave her four firm squeezes in return.

Winter offered him a sincere smile. The corners of her lips barely twitched upward, but he could see it.

Her lips rested in place. At the same time, the life fled from her eyes and her grip went slack.

"Winter?!"

Frantically, Qrow attempted aura transfer. His aura emitted a strong green light as his hands hovered above the arrow in her chest. He ringed out as much aura as he could, but she was unable to accept the process. At this rate, this strategy was futile.

There was too much blood...

 _Blood!_

Swiftly, Qrow used his sword to cut his wrist. When it was dripping blood, he coddled her head and parted her lips. Some droplets cascaded down his wrist and streamed inside her mouth.

Normally, other people's blood served as a medicine for vampires, so he thought this would work.

Unfortunately, here was no reaction from the motionless woman. Not even after he waited a few long, torturous minutes.

"Winter," he called. "Winter, Winter," the despaired huntsman shook her gently, not knowing what else to do besides call her name. "H-hey. We were supposed to start a family together, remember?"

Icy pools remained closed. Her body was limp on the blanket of snow.

All their hopes and dreams…

Their plans for the future.

Shattered.

"We were going to tell your parents about us…" he continued, his voice wavered. "We were supposed to get their blessing…"

There was no reply, which made his heart rip in half.

It was _physical_ pain.

His throat was tight.

He could literally feel his heart be torn to pieces. The reality of the situation loomed over him. It was like a dark cloud was creeping on him, ready to pour over.

Biting back a sob, he gripped her hand tightly. His other hand didn't dare leave her stomach.

"Have I ever told you I love you?" Qrow murmured softly. The tears refused to stop as he stared at her peaceful, resting face. "I love you!" he declared, his expression distraught. "It's too damn late to say that now, isn't it?"

He was met with silence.

Qrow did what he hadn't done in ages. He let out all his emotions in a blood curdling scream with the call of her name.

He didn't know whether to be mad at himself for not being able to save her.

For not telling her that he loved her so dearly in a heartfelt confession.

Whether to be sad that she was _gone_.

There were simply too many emotions running through his body, his mind.

Qrow couldn't stifle his sobs as he squeezed her hand. The stream blended with snow that was dyed crimson.

There were so many things he wanted to tell her.

So many things he regretted not telling her.

Suddenly, the hand her stomach felt a tiny kick. It was small. A little vibration.

That caught his attention and he gasped.

Due to losing the love of his life, he almost forgot one of her final requests...

 _Our baby,_ Qrow wiped his cheeks with his sleeve. _I need to save our baby._

* * *

"His baby won't survive if we don't intervene," a woman's voice echoed.

Her eyes meticulously inspected the large screen.

In the office, there was a massive television that displayed Qrow's dilemma. Two people studied the situation and pondered their next move.

The man next to her was clearly troubled. He was unable to watch the events for a second longer. With a purpose, he stood from his swivel chair and grabbed his cane that was propped up on the desk.

Surprised he stood so suddenly, the woman chimed. "Where are you going, Oz?"

The events on screen were haunting and still played in the background. Qrow could be seen sobbing over Winter's body, which now matched the snow's pallor.

"You're correct, Glynda," Ozpin admitted. "The unborn child won't survive if we remain idle."

Glyda pushed her glasses up while she was in deep thought. "You always do the right thing, but why help… _him_?"

She had known Ozpin for years, so she knew he didn't act without purpose. What stunned her the most was that the man he wanted to help was Qrow. Glynda had never been fond of him, so she wondered more than anything else as to _why_ her partner wanted to help him.

"I am indebted to him," Ozpin left it at that. "I need to repay him, and now is the time to do so."

After knowing Ozpin for so long, Glynda knew he wouldn't say exactly what it was. What happened in the past between the two. All she needed was the knowledge that he would save the baby, no matter the cost.

"Very well," Glynda dropped the subject. "Let's go. The baby doesn't have much time."

* * *

Mr. and Mrs. Schnee were sitting on a pure white couch enjoying a movie together.

It'd been a long time since they watched a movie, comforted by each other's presence.

The first time they'd watched a movie together was their first date almost decades ago.

The vacation was heaven. Getting away from the company and their pureblood lifestyle was a weight off their shoulders.

Wilhelmina was humming a chipper tune with a giddy smile. Wilford had a poker face, but he enjoyed the afternoon just as much as her, even if he didn't show it.

His arm was around her shoulders as she leaned into him closely with the ever-present melodic tune.

"Hun, I can't hear the movie if you do that right in my ear," Wilford remarked.

Wilhelmina wryly grinned. "You know you love it."

Mr. Schnee couldn't deny that. She would always do that when she was extremely happy, even on cloud nine. It was one of her idiosyncrasies he'd grown to love. When he heard the sweet tune, he knew he'd placed her on a pedestal where she belonged.

Even after all these years of marriage, he was proud of himself for keeping her overall happy. Being cursed with being a vampire, a _pureblood_ vampire, placed huge burdens on them.

They'd always fight anything and everything together, their bond deep and strong.

"You're right," he admitted, a grin present.

Wilhelmina scooted closer to him as he pulled her close, their eyes glued to each other.

"I love you, my darling," she stated, her glimmering blue eyes spoke for her.

Wilford faintly chuckled. She told him that every day. Even after the small arguments they would sometimes have.

"I know and I love you, too."

"Good," she replied. "Because if you don't, you can say goodbye to your fancy bread maker."

He gasped in feigned shock. "You wouldn't!"

Wilhelmina casually used her zehn to conjure up an ice shard, pointing it directly at the little machine that was on the counter. A sly smirk was present. "I would."

Wilford looked genuinely distraught when his precious bread maker was in danger, but he knew it was nothing to worry about. "Don't waste your zehn," he lowered her hand. "You have nothing to fear."

Fondly, Wilhelmina leaned in for a kiss.

Before his lips could ensnare her own, there was a vibration in his pocket.

Wilford sighed and pulled out his phone. "Sorry, dear."

Wilhelmina leaned back and stared at the movie that was still on the screen. "Aw," she pouted. "It was just getting good..."

Wilford playfully rolled his eyes and slid his scroll to answer the call. "Yes, Qrow?"

"Wilford," Qrow sounded frantic. "Wilford, I'm so sorry."

From his tone, Wilford sat up from the couch and removed his arm from around his wife. "What happened?"

Wilhelmina was listening intently, not liking the shift of his tone. It was easy for her to hear the conversation when her husband put Qrow on speaker.

"It's Winter," Qrow stifled a sob. "She… she..."

"What happened to her?" he asked forcefully, his eyes on the brink of shifting red.

This couldn't be good.

"She's dead," Qrow stated. "I-I couldn't save her."

The purebloods' stomachs dropped. It was like Remnant had stopped time as they were frozen, trying to process his words.

The mere words ripped their hearts in half, torn apart by fierce claws.

Wilford's expression never changed as he squeezed Wilhelmina's hand tightly, almost cutting off the circulation. "H-how?" his voice betrayed how calm he appeared.

Wilhelmina on the other hand, already had tears cascading down her cheeks. Her hand covered her mouth to stop any sound from escaping. Any noise would hinder their ability to hear the huntsman clearly. They needed to hear the details properly.

Qrow filled them in on the details. Their motivation for going out to stop Cinder. The fight, Emerald and Mercury. The amount of power Cinder possessed, and the frightened look in Winter's eyes when she realized just how dangerous their enemy was.

Tears fell from Wilford's eyes. "Dammit…" he felt like he'd throw up. "Winter…"

Wilhelmina was sobbing as she hugged her husband for comfort. "Why'd she have to be so protective?!" she cursed herself for not being there for her daughter.

"I'm… so sorry," Qrow said. "One of her final requests was to tell you she loves you."

Even though Qrow said that, he felt no amount of apologizing would ever repay them.

The purebloods sat there in silence, taking in his words. Winter didn't show much affection, but they knew she meant it. She loved them even if she never said so.

Their bawls piercing the air. All they could do was hold each other to comfort one another.

Qrow was silent on the other end of the line, his own stomach still in a knot when he recalled all the blood and the image of his beloved on the cold snow.

"Where is she?" Wilhelmina asked. "Y-you were with her… where is she now?"

That's when Qrow sounded even more troubled. "She's with me right now," he informed.

"Let us see her," Wilford demanded.

Qrow answered without hesitation. "I can't."

"Why not?!" he lashed out. "She's my daughter, dammit!"

"Do you want to remember your daughter for who she was, or how she died?" Qrow asked him evenly. "I'm trying to make her look as good as new, so until then, you can't see her."

Qrow had been trying to clean up the blood for a few hours. It was an attempt to make Winter look how she was without the arrow in her chest or wounds that killed her. The last thing he wanted was for others to see what he saw.

Especially her family.

The parents seemed to understand as they lowered their heads.

Even though Qrow was a pain sometimes, he was part of their family. He failed to do his job, but over the years, he'd proven to be competent and Winter had taken a liking to him.

Wilhelmina took a deep breath. "We understand- just... please," desperation tinged her voice. "Get back home in Vale safely with her. Don't take any risks, understand? None."

Qrow gulped, not wanting to push his luck. "Yes, ma'am."

Wilford spoke, his voice cracked with misery. "We will discuss this when you arrive her with her."

"Got it," Qrow replied.

A sudden, high-pitched whine was in the background and echoed on Qrow's end. Wilhelmina and Wilford leaned into the scroll with curiosity.

"What was that?" Wilford asked.

"Do you have a baby with you?" Wilhelmina asked in disbelief. "Qrow, what the hell is going on over there?"

"I'll talk to you later," Qrow quickly ended the call.

The pureblood couple gave each other concerned glances.

Wilhelmina cupped her hands on her face. "What do we do?"

"No matter how you look at it," Wilford said. "Weiss and Blake need to know Winter is…"

He never finished the sentence. They knew exactly what he was going to say.

"I know," Wilhelmina said softly. "When would be the right time?"

"Soon," he replied. "There's no point keeping it a secret."

The female pureblood let slip a few more tears. "This'll devastate them."

"Not only them," he said. "The entire vampire race. Our pureblood line is at stake."

It took all her self-control not to slap him. "How could you be thinking that in a time like this?" she hissed, betrayal loomed in her voice. "We just lost our _daughter,_ Wilford. Not our pureblood daughter. Our daughter! She was more than a mere chess piece of the bloodline!"

"I know that!" he yelled. "But Winter… without her…"

Wilhelmina's throat grew tight. More tears escaped. "Weiss is the only one left to carry the pureblood line."

The burden that had been on Weiss and Winter since birth would now double on the former's shoulders.

And she was blissfully unaware.

"She doesn't have to be with Cardin, right?" Wilford asked. "Could we have another kid?"

"Wilford…" her voice wavered. "You and I both know that's impossible…"

The couple knew exactly what she was referring to. Vampires couldn't conceive after a certain age, one that had been passed years ago.

Wilford choked back a sob. "Dammit!"

Naturally, he didn't want to put his remaining daughter through that. If it was for the future of the pureblood line, he knew Weiss would go through with it.

That made it even more heartbreaking for them.

The pain they've suffered through because of what they were born as…

Now it would make itself known full force on their white-haired daughter.

As if Winter's death wasn't enough…

* * *

Mercury and Emerald practically dragged Cinder to their hideout.

Both her arms were around their shoulders. She was deadweight.

After the fight, all her energy was completely drained.

Her followers were frantic, having never seen Cinder in this exhausted state before. Usually, she ruled with an iron fist, but to see her reduced to a panting, weak vampire was something they thought they'd never see.

After laying Cinder on the couch, Emerald sat next to her while Mercury strolled into the kitchen, looking for food. Cinder wasn't the only one who spent a lot of energy. Him and his partner were fatigued, too.

Emerald leaned over Cinder with worry.

"Do you need anything, my lady?"

"No," Cinder tried to say sternly, but it came out feeble. "It's only a matter of-"

Before she could finish her sentence, her body began to glow a pure white. Every vein trailed with the innocent hue. The dim room sparked as Cinder lifted her arm to marvel at the result.

"-time."

Emerald leaned back in awe. From what she could tell, this was different than the last time Cinder acquired a pureblood power.

Instead of a violent wave of energy, the white glow was calm. It soothed the very essence around them.

Cinder was conflicted when she didn't feel the unbridled power like last time. The surge of raw energy was addictive, but this energy was different.

It was warm. So warm. Pure.

It enveloped her in a comforting blanket.

It felt lacking.

"Are you okay, my lady?" Emerald asked, a bit of urgency in her tone.

She didn't like it when Cinder didn't know exactly what was happening, or when things didn't go her way.

"I'm fine," Cinder replied as she stared at her glowing white palms. "More than fine," a sly smirk formed.

Even though it wasn't the raw surge of power she was used to, it was still power.

* * *

"She's not going to get away with this," Wilford stated, his eyes blood-red.

He'd transformed his unyielding sadness to cruel anger. Wilhelmina clung tightly to his arm, her once blue eyes matched his fierce red ones.

"We must plan first," Wilhelmina stated. "There's no rush," her tone was almost dead, like all her emotions had come to a halt.

"Of course," he agreed levelly. "For now, we wait for our chance."

Winter and Qrow intended to fight and had a plan in mind. However, the result was devastating, so they knew this woman _,_ this _murderer,_ was a force to be reckoned with.

The loss of their daughter and the fact that she was murdered by someone set their nerves on edge.

How dare they take away one of their own!

"We'll kill her," Wilhelmina declared calmly as she gazed into his red eyes, her own orbs warped to an even darker tint of blood. "That's a vow. Not a promise."

* * *

 **Oh shit! They're pissed!**

 **If you listened to the Let Me Hear dub by AmaLee (the link is at the end of the first chapter) then you shouldn't be surprised about the baby. Or about Winter dying for someone else.**

 **The lyrics from the song are: "'I keep calling out your name,' so you know I'm still here to wipe away your tears."**

 **More lyrics by Natewantstobattle: "They were born with the fate 'of dying for someone.'"**

 **There were several hints about Winter being pregnant. They really aren't hard to find. I'm surprised no one commented about them!**

 **The meaning behind the hand squeezes? You've probably guessed it, but in case: 3 means 'I love you' and 4 in return means 'I love you, too.' I do that with my mom and so do my cousins. It's a fam thing :)**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	57. I'm Still Here to Wipe Away Your Tears

"Would you shut it, brute?" Weiss scolded.

On the cozy carpet was Zwei, who stared up at Weiss and then to Yang.

"Arf!"

"See?" Weiss said. "Zwei thinks you should, too."

Yang scoffed. "I was just showin' Blakey how to math!"

Ruby chuckled. "Hehe, 'how to math…'"

Weiss jabbed her partner lightly in the gut with her pointy elbow. "What are you, five?"

"Heeeey," the leader whined. "Yang's the one that said it first!"

"You started it," Yang teasingly accused.

"Never mind," Weiss huffed. "You're both five."

Team RWBY had been in relative silence and studying in their room. Ruby and Weiss were paired together, trying to finish the assignment they were just given by Port. Meanwhile, Blake had a question about how to calculate a math problem. Since her sister and leader were busy, she asked her partner.

That led Yang to think out loud, this distracted Weiss and Ruby.

Well, mainly Weiss.

"Aha!" Yang exclaimed and slammed the pencil on the desk in victory. "I figured it out!"

Zwei yipped with glee as he pranced over to nudge his owner's leg playfully, which earned a pat on the head.

In recognition, Blake's cat ear flicked as she stared at the paper that had numbers all over the page. It contained the formula written out with a bunch of numbers that she easily put together in understanding. Yang made it easy for her, labelling the steps to the side and spreading out the numbers so she could follow.

"Huh, it looks right," Blake admitted. "I think you got it."

"Of course I did," the blonde pointed proudly to herself. "I'm smarter than you think."

"I wouldn't go that far," Weiss remarked in a teasing manner and sipped her red water.

To back her sister up, Ruby mocked her partner. "Look at me, I'm Weiss. I drink blood, I know stuff, I'm rich," she finished with a giggle.

Blake couldn't help but snicker from the comment.

"Don't be a pest!"

As Ruby and Weiss bickered, Blake felt her scroll vibrate. She pulled it out of her pocket in annoyance. The last thing she wanted was to be distracted from her studies. Then again, she doubted she could focus with her sister and leader yelling in the background.

"Who is it, kitten?" Yang asked.

"It's my mom," Blake replied. "Hold on," she slid the video button and held out her scroll.

"Hi, Blake," on the other end was Wilhelmina, who forced out the words. It was then that she noticed Yang. "Hello there, Yang."

Amber pools narrowed in suspicion. Usually her mom was more chipper than this. Especially if she got to see her beloved daughter's face.

Hesitantly, Blake asked. "Did you need something?"

Wilhelmina stared at the blood-faunus, to Yang, and then at the bickering pair in the background. Their yells were clearly playful, but loud. "Yang, I'd hate to ask you this, but could you and Ruby please leave the room for a bit?"

Yang was taken aback from the request "Okay, no problem mama Schnee."

The moment Blake heard those words uttered by her mother, she knew something was terribly wrong. If Wilhelmina didn't want the team around, that meant this was probably something personal.

"Rubes!" Yang called. "We gotta go."

The mini red reaper tore her gaze away from Weiss. "What? Why?"

Yang simply walked over and grabbed her arm. "We're getting cookies," rapidly, she pulled her toward the door.

"Ohhh cookies!" Ruby beamed. "Okay!"

The blood-faunus playfully rolled her eyes. Of course Ruby would drop everything and leave for the delicious treats. Yang knew her baby sister well.

Yang poked her head in the room before shutting the door. "We'll be back!"

Silence.

"What was that about?" Weiss asked her sister.

"Mom needed us alone," Blake pointed to her scroll, which displayed their mother.

"I see," to get comfortable, Weiss pulled out a chair and walked over to sit next to Blake at her desk. "Hello, mother."

"Hi, Weiss," the mom greeted.

Naturally, it didn't take Weiss long to realize something was wrong. Her mother's tone was so off it was pathetic. She wasn't even trying to hide it.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Weiss leaned in, expectant.

To help, Wilford joined Wilhelmina and sat next to her. His eyes were red, but not from using zehn. His wife's eyes were puffy, now that they thought about it.

Blake's voice raised in alarm, her cat ears perked up and alert from the image. "What's wrong?"

Zwei sensed the urgency in her tone and yipped once. He waddled over and sat next to the pair on the floor right by their legs.

The couple ignored the random bark and stared at their daughters.

"It's Winter," Wilhelmina took a deep breath.

The vampire sisters leaned in full of worry.

"What about her?" Blake asked, wanting to get to the bottom of it.

Before Wilhelmina could say her next sentence, she broke down in tears and buried her face in Wilford's shoulder. He pulled her in close, his own eyes starting to water.

The vampire sisters got a deep sinking feeling in their stomachs. Words refused to leave their mouths as they stared at their parents in silence. Azure and amber were wide and disbelieving.

Wilford spoke clearly. Bluntly.

"Winter is dead."

 _Winter is dead._

 _Winter is dead._

 _Winter is dead._

Those words pounded into their skulls mercilessly.

"Come on now," Weiss started, the waver in her voice almost took hold. "What's the actual news?"

"I'm so sorry," Wilford said softly. His heart was ripped in half all over again when his daughter refused to accept the fact. "I'm sorry."

More wails from their mother.

Blake sat there in silence, still processing those words. For a moment, it felt like everything was frozen. She was stiff and locked in place. The cries were blocked out of her head as she pondered the news.

Of course, Weiss could tell her parents were serious. But this was such a sudden punch in the face. Something in her that told her they were joking.

Like this was a mean prank.

Weiss of all people knows how powerful Winter is. She couldn't be dead.

That was impossible.

"You're kidding, right? This has to be a joke," the heiress insisted.

Blake placed a hand on her shoulder. "Weiss, don't-"

"No!" Weiss slapped her hand away and faced her parents. "How? How'd this happen?"

In an instant, she wanted answers. Deep down, she knew her parents would never joke about something as sensitive as this.

"Why?" Weiss asked. "Why is she..."

She wanted details, down to the letter.

Blake's poker face betrayed her as several tears cascaded down her cheeks. Naturally, she had a million questions as well. "Wasn't Qrow with her? He's supposed to protect her, dammit!"

Wilhelmina gained her bearings and wiped her cheeks. "He told us the details."

After filling them in on the story, Weiss and Blake leaned back in their chairs in shock.

Winter and Qrow went after Cinder to prevent her from doing more harm.

To prevent Cinder from killing more humans and faunus.

More purebloods.

More vampires.

Her family.

It was all in good intentions. The pureblood and bodyguard felt with all their hearts they were doing the right thing. Nothing stopped them from acting.

The night of Beacon's dance seemed so long ago.

Cinder first made herself known to the Schnee's.

The woman who went after Weiss first…

Killed Winter.

It was because they let Cinder get away…

 _It was because they let her get away…_

That Winter was dead.

"Winter..." Blake murmured. Somehow, she thought saying her name would let her see her again. "Winter…"

Meanwhile, Weiss didn't say a word and sat there in silence. Her eyes were glazed over like she wasn't there. Her brain was too busy processing the story. It was like she wasn't in reality anymore. She was lost in her own mind.

Wilford stared at the heartbreaking sight. "We regret not being there to help them, but we didn't know…"

"They went off on their own," Wilhelmina informed after sniffling. "It was because they're very protective of you two."

Instead of hiding her emotions, Blake let out more cries of agony. This was a safe space. She had to cry and never stop. It was like she was turned into a whimpering child again. "W-Winter..."

"I wish we could be there to comfort you," Wilhelmina stated softly, yet firmly. "But right now, we're heading back home."

The blood-faunus wiped away some tears. "Why?"

Wilford sighed heavily. "No one is there to run the company."

"Screw the company!" Blake shouted in sadness and stood in a fury. "You need a break now more than ever!"

"It's okay," Wilford reassured. "I need to distract myself…"

"Mom," Blake pleaded.

Wilhelmina rubbed his back soothingly as her husband stared at the ground. "We all need each other's support right now, Blake. Please don't be mad at him."

Reluctantly, the aristocrat tore her gaze away from the scene. She bit her lip in understanding and frustration. "Sorry."

"We'll give you two time to process this," Wilhelmina said sweetly. "Remember that she'll _always_ be with us, okay?"

Those words resonated within the vampire sisters.

Blake simply nodded and placed a hand over her mouth to stifle the oncoming whimper. When she knew she was clear, she replied. "Of course she is."

"We love you," for some reason, Wilford thought that would make them feel better. "Qrow said that… that Winter's final request was to tell her family that she loves us. She said she loves you guys, too."

"I love her, too," Blake managed to choke out.

Wilford half-smiled. "She knows. We'll check on you soon."

Wilhelmina gazed at Weiss and then to Blake. "Take care of each other," she almost commanded, but she knew they would anyways. Saying it made her feel better.

The aristocrat nodded and ended the video call, too upset to continue the conversation.

New holes were now in both of their hearts from the loss of their beloved sister.

Some part of Blake felt like Winter would still call randomly to check on them.

To see how they were doing at Beacon as she always did.

To be their pillar of support she'd been all these years.

Sure, Blake wasn't Winter's biological sister, but she was still her sister. She was there for her through thick and thin. Through all of Blake's failures and accomplishments, just as much as Weiss was. Even though it took Winter a while to get used to Blake, the two had formed an unbreakable bond.

A sister's bond.

Blake sniffled again and placed a comforting hand on Weiss' shoulder.

Zwei whimpered, his ears flattened on his head. To comfort her, he rubbed Blake's leg with his broad snout.

The blood-faunus didn't react at all from his touch. She ignored his presence as more tears stained the carpet and his black fur.

Zwei sniveled and gazed up at the blood-faunus. He was no fool. His fur was partly wet because of pure, relentless sorrow.

"Weiss," the aristocrat called. "Please say something…"

The heiress remained quiet. Those azure pools were still glazed over. She stared at the wall. At nothing. She wasn't moving and stayed unnaturally in place like a doll.

Worried, Zwei grazed Weiss' porcelain legs like he did to Blake a few moments before. Seeing there was no reaction, the little corgi didn't know what to do.

Normally, Blake would jump away from his touch while Weiss would pepper him with kisses. He whined again, wondering if he could do anything to help.

Blake was met with a concerning silence. To comfort her, she leaned in to hug her sister, who was still sitting on the chair.

The aristocrat wrapped her arms around her in a close embrace, hoping to comfort her in any way possible and hoping to receive comfort as well.

But the embrace was something Weiss failed to return.

Perturbed, Blake pulled apart and noticed her sister's expression was blank. Her eyes weren't even watering. Just clouded over and misty.

Now that she thought about it, she'd never seen Weiss cry before.

"Hey," Blake shook her shoulders gently, yet firmly. "Snap out of it!"

Zwei yipped from the raised voice and frantically encircled the sisters.

Weiss was too busy thinking of too many things at once to hear her sister's or the dog's pleas.

She tried to wrap her mind around one thing at a time, but couldn't keep up. Before she knew it, the world was spinning and closing in on her. She didn't want to feel anything. The pain was slowly creeping in. It would be too hard to bare if she allowed it.

All she wanted to do was hide in a corner and isolate herself from the world. That corner was nearing each passing second and encased her in an enticing blanket of darkness.

Suddenly, Weiss veered to the left and out of her chair. With a gasp, Blake immediately dove forward and caught her in her arms. The two sunk to the carpet, and Blake instantly noticed she felt cold.

Colder than she normally was.

"H-hey!" Blake yelped, which earned a bark from Zwei.

The heiress furrowed her eyes once, but she quickly went limp in Blake's arms.

"Weiss?!" Blake yelped. "C-come on, wake up!" she set a finger to her neck and noticed her pulse was rapid.

Too fast for comfort.

 _Oh no,_ Blake thought. _The shock was too much!_

Zwei whimpered and licked some of the cold sweat off Weiss' arm.

"H-hey," Blake sobbed all over again as she coddled her petite form. Both of her hands clutched the small of her back. "Don't do this..." she held her tighter. "Not when Winter is-!"

Sometimes, whenever Blake saw Weiss, she saw Winter. The two were strikingly similar, but she never really thought about it because she was so used to it. Now, as Blake gazed at Weiss, she was reminded of nothing but Winter.

Blake coaxed the heiress in a tight embrace, hoping to comfort them both. She placed one hand on the back of her head and the other on the small of her back, softly setting her chin in the crook of her sister's neck.

She narrowed her eyes to clear her vision since it was so blurry from all the tears.

It was physically painful to endure their loss. Weiss was proof even their bodies were affected from the shock.

Part of Blake was glad her sister passed out. This way, she didn't have to feel this pain.

Blake couldn't stop trembling as she tried to stifle her sobs. The trembles racked both of their bodies, but she couldn't help it. Weiss was the only one who could even try to comfort her right now, even though she was unconscious.

Seeing Weiss like this sent another pang in her heart.

It made her sick.

The hair reminded her even more of the eldest as Blake soothed her fingers through the girl's white waterfall.

"Winter..."

The door practically busted open and the other pair of sisters ran inside.

"What's wrong?!" Yang yelped and then gasped when she saw the two on the floor. "What happened?!"

"Winter..." Blake mumbled and tucked the heiress closely to her chest. "Winter- she- she's gone..."

From her distraught words, the two knew she wasn't just gone on vacation. She was gone permanently.

"Oh my god," Ruby uttered. "Blake, I'm so sorry."

The sisters weren't going to question Blake about Winter. The news was still new and unbearably harsh. The last thing they wanted to do was to remind her of the pain of losing a loved one. Even though that pain would fade, it would never truly vanish.

Ruby and Yang were painfully aware of that.

The vampire sisters' pain was so new. Not older like Ruby and Yang's.

Yang gulped and rushed over to the vampire sisters, kneeling on the floor to join them. "I'm so sorry for your loss, Blake," she said softly.

Yang and Ruby hadn't officially met the eldest in real life, but they did a few times over the scroll. As far as they could tell, Winter was very special to them and was a nice person.

Someone who shouldn't have died so young.

Yang figured Weiss in particular didn't take the news well as she stared at the unconscious girl on the floor. "What happened to her? How is she?"

The blood-faunus sniffled a few times and stared down at her sister's resting face. "She-she couldn't handle it and… shut down."

Zwei cried as his gentle paws nudged the heiress in a futile attempt to wake her.

Yang bit her lip as she gazed at how hurt Blake was, how hurt Weiss was…

Ruby and Yang knew losing a loved one was just as much physical as it was emotional.

If they could, they would wipe away their sorrows in an instant. Seeing the vampire sisters like this was just as heartbreaking as the news.

Ruby knelt and sweetly wiped Blake's tears with her thumb. After Blake sniffled again, Ruby pulled her in for a soft hug. She was fragile now, like she would break, so Ruby treated her like glass.

"I'm so sorry," the leader murmured. "If you need anything _,_ even if it's just for me to listen, I'm here."

"We're here," Yang corrected.

Blake didn't return the hug. She refused to let go of the heiress. However, she accepted the embrace.

Despite the block of ice in her arms, Ruby's warmth and affection overpowered the cold.

"I know," Blake replied. "Thank you."

That's right… Blake wasn't alone for this.

She had her whole team to lean on.

Then why did it hurt so much?!

Yang's worried gaze trailed to Weiss. "Come on, let's get her off the floor."

Blake nodded in agreement and choked back another sob. Carefully, she lifted her sister. In case she'd stumble, Yang flanked her side, something Blake was grateful for. Slowly, she walked over to Weiss' bed and laid her down after Ruby pulled down the covers.

As Yang pulled the sheets over her, Blake retrieved Myrtenaster and set it next to her sleeping sister.

Ruby tilted her head in confusion. "Why'd you put her weapon next to her?"

Blake took a deep breath and never tore her worried gaze away from her sister. Her voice tinged with sadness.

"It was Winter's…"

* * *

 **Again, the chapter title references one of the songs this story is based on. Let Me Hear version by Amalee:**

" **I keep calling out your name, so you know 'I'm still here to wipe away your tears.' If we fall, at least we're falling as one in the end. Let me take your last breath."**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	58. It's a World of Chaos

It was vivid.

After child Weiss performed an arduous task, she received encouragement from the teenaged Winter. Naturally, Weiss' eyes lit up, happy to be praised like a puppy. The sisters stood in the middle of the training arena.

Since their home was invaded by greedy vampires and normal humans, their pureblood parents moved the family. To get away from the dangerous people who knew of their existence.

It was to ensure their safety. For a new start in their lives.

The training ground was brand new to the sisters. Yet, they used it almost constantly. There was something about the room that put them at ease. Maybe because they were always together in this particular room.

Carefully, the teenage Winter pointed her rapier at the floor. The adolescent gestured for her little sister to begin the summoning process.

Little Weiss took a deep breath and stomped her foot in emphasis, an action that made Winter giggle.

"What?" Weiss asked somewhat irritably.

"Nothing," Winter answered in amusement. "You're really cute."

In response, little Weiss puffed her cheeks like a beta fish. An action that made Winter think she was even cuter if that was possible.

"How else am I supposed to summon?!"

Winter playfully rolled her eyes and hoisted her rapier into the marble-patterned floor. "Like this."

Eventually, a glowing white glyph appeared to the left of her little sister. After several seconds, Winter summoned a beowolf that emitted the purest white light.

From the sudden sight, Weiss stumbled back in amazement at the impressive specimen. She gasped in awe and her jaw almost dropped to the floor. She knew her older sister was a prodigy, but this was beyond words.

The white beowolf tilted its head at the child and gently sniffed her hair. All Weiss could do was stand there, hoping it wouldn't do anything else. Despite her stiffness, she was excited, and placed her trust in Winter that it wouldn't attack.

Winter noticed how nervous her little sister was. "It's… okay," she tried to reassure. "It won't bite…"

From the teenaged Winter's voice, Weiss whipped her head to face her. Surprisingly, her elder sister was out of breath in a rare display of weakness, something Weiss had never seen before.

"Winter!" little Weiss fretted. "Are you okay?!"

"Yes," Winter reassured. "Summoning takes a lot of energy."

To prove her point, the calm beowolf slowly dissipated. The white light flickered until it vanished into thin air.

"Wow," Weiss gawked. "So if I summon, I can get that cool thing, too?"

Winter knelt to get at eye level with her, her expression blank. "You will have to kill one first."

"What?!" little Weiss yelped. "Really?! But that's so hard!"

"Really," teenaged Winter stood and rubbed her sister's head, rufflingher hair. "To summon, you need to kill grimm. The more grimm you kill, the more summons you have at your hand."

"Woah…"

Winter nodded. "You have slain a few tiny nevermores in our combat sessions, so I was hoping you could summon one of those. The smaller the grimm, the less energy it takes."

"I can't kill a beowolf!" little Weiss yelped. "It looked so scary!"

Winter stifled an amused chuckle. "Eventually, you will have to. Out there, they come after you."

Little Weiss shut her mouth and looked like she was contemplating life. Winter didn't say that to scare her. She was just trying to prepare her for the real world. Although she could have gone about that a different, more effective way.

"You don't have to worry about that as you are," Winter said softly. "For now, I want to give you something."

Weiss tilted her head in confusion. "What?"

Winter held out the rapier in her grip. "Myrtenaster. Consider it yours."

Little Weiss could only stare at the twinkling, flawless weapon. "Why? It's your weapon, not mine. I'm not even allowed to have a weapon until I'm older. Mama and Dad say they're dangerous."

"Father plans to hire bodyguards for us soon," Winter replied evenly. "They will protect us, but sometimes you have to know how to protect yourself. A day will come when you need to know how to defend yourself and you can do that with Myrtenaster."

Learning a weapon at a young age would provide a huge advantage. This was something Winter felt strongly that her little sister gained.

Little Weiss could tell her sister was being earnest. "W-won't mommy and daddy be mad?"

"Mom and Dad will understand. I will personally talk to them," Winter replied confidently. "And don't worry about Myrtenaster being my weapon. I plan to get a new one soon."

Reluctantly, Weiss gripped the handle on the rapier. "But this is a new one, Winter! You just got it a few weeks ago!"

"It doesn't suit me," Winter watched Weiss carefully examine it. "You look like you'd be a natural at it."

"Really?" Little Weiss couldn't imagine herself even handling a weapon. "You think Myrsasster is a good match for me?"

"Myrtenaster," Winter corrected with mirth. "I can't see it with anyone else. Not even me."

Little Weiss stared at the new weapon in pure awe as she carefully held it out, but then lost her balance due to its lengthy size.

Winter chuckled again at how adorable her little sister was. When she watched Weiss try to pick it up again with determination, she knew she made the right choice in giving the weapon to her. Although currently, it was a little heavy for her.

"Here," Winter cautiously lifted the sharp end of the weapon with her index finger.

Together, the two balanced it as Weiss mocked her sister's combat stance.

That made Winter chuckle again.

"What?" Weiss asked. "What am I doing now?"

"Nothing," she replied with an ever-present smile. "Let's call it a day. You have worked hard."

"You worked harder."

"You worked harderer."

"That's not even a word, Win!" Weiss replied.

"That doesn't mean it's not true."

With a tiny huff, Weiss pulled on the rapier, which caused Winter to lose her grip. It thumped on the marble floor.

"Be careful," Winter advised.

"I'm carefuller than you," Weiss replied with a knowing smirk.

With a grin, Winter took the lead and headed to the exit with Weiss following, dragging her new rapier across the glistening floor.

* * *

Weiss woke up with a slight gasp.

The first thing she noticed was why she was loosely hugging the blunt end of her weapon while she was asleep.

Then she realized that a certain corgi was staring at her in the pitch-black darkness. The little ball of fur was slightly panting as he sprawled out on her bed and in her lap.

Silently, Weiss placed a finger over her lips and hushed the small dog before he could bark.

From the gesture, Zwei's lolled tongue went back inside his mouth as he tilted his head. His beady gray eyes never pried away from his companion.

When the heiress had a chance to look around, she noticed Blake was sitting in a chair, bent over on her bed. One of her hands was on top of the blankets, the other in Weiss' own. It was limp and her ears were droopy, so she was sound asleep.

Hesitantly, Weiss checked the clock on the wall and was shocked to see it was just past midnight.

 _How long was I out?_

Slowly, Weiss slipped her hand out of her sister's grip and rubbed the haze from her eyes.

 _Wait…_ the heiress thought. _Why was I-_ subconsciously, she tightly gripped Myrtenaster and her memory was jogged like a click.

 _Winter…_

Weiss felt sick all over again when she remembered the dreadful news. All in a moment, she felt like she couldn't breathe in this stuffy, hot room. The sudden pressure weighed like a ton of bricks on her shoulders.

Zwei noticed his companion was distressed from her sudden rapid breathing. Gently, he set a paw on her thigh. If he was allowed, he would whimper, but he was pretty sure he had to be quiet.

A cold hand covered his paw and she whispered. "I'll be back. Be quiet, for me?"

Zwei nodded, an action that caught Weiss completely off guard.

Did he understand her?

The heiress shrugged it off and with expert stealth, glided out of bed without Blake noticing any movements. Her cat ears didn't even flinch.

 _She needs to rest,_ Weiss thought as she strapped Myrtenaster to her hilt. _I'm so sorry you have to go through this, Blake. Especially after losing your biological parents._

Fondly, she pecked her sister in between her floppy cat ears. After she gently rubbed Zwei's head, she left the room with one destination in mind.

Beacon Academy's training grounds were always open.

With so many things on her mind and Winter's death, Weiss knew it was the only place to go at this hour. At least to distract her. There was no way she could fall back asleep. Not after that dream.

No one was up at this hour, so it was peacefully silent. Although, she wished someone was there so she could escape her mind.

Constant questions and burdens kept pounding against her skull, but most of all, her beloved sister's death.

She didn't know why, but her eyes didn't water. No matter how hard she tried, nothing would pour out. This wasn't how crying was supposed to work, was it? It was natural, but Weiss found herself _wanting_ and failing to cry.

It just felt like she was… empty.

There was a huge gaping hole in her heart and she knew Blake felt the same way.

At least Blake could express her emotions.

Weiss had _never_ felt this dead inside.

The world around her drained of color. Her eyes were void of blue. A dull gray was the replacement.

Over the years, her family had lived with the fear of being killed by someone out of greed.

Now that it actually happened, she didn't know what to do.

What to think.

Finally, Weiss had arrived.

She opened the doors to the training room and walked over to the machine with the difficulty setting. Without hesitation, she set it to 'expert' mode, thinking she might have some pent-up anger just waiting to be unleashed on some poor hologrammed grimm.

Soon enough, several beowolves and ursa materialized a few feet in front of her. She poised Myrtenaster, waiting for her opponents to lunge.

The glowing grimm launched themselves at the girl in white and flanked all her sides.

The vampire dodged every single swipe and attack. Since she wanted a distraction, she focused all her energy on the battle. It was like she was born anew, although this new world lacked glimmer.

Weiss thrusted her rapier into the hologrammed bodies. One after one, they vanished and materialized.

She continued like this for several minutes.

She hoped she could feel something in the meantime, but there was nothing.

No surge of energy.

No motivation.

No emotion.

Nothing.

Why was she doing this again?

Not even glancing around for cameras, she lifted her hand and used her zehn to impale the grimm with ice daggers. The vicious beasts howled before fading away.

Since birth, the heiress had been taught to never use zehn in public. Especially if there was a chance some human would witness the vampire ability.

But she didn't care.

 _She didn't care._

She continued in this manner for a couple of hours.

The entire training arena was coated in glistening layers of ice from aura and zehn.

Weiss gazed at the room with a poker face, her posture still tall even after exerting that much energy. Seeing the aftermath didn't do much for her. This ice only reminded of the one thing she tried to distract herself from.

Now that Winter was on her mind, Weiss whipped her rapier to point to the ground.

Her thoughts were of nothing but Winter as a few beowolves pounced straight for her.

 _You summoned with her,_ Weiss stared at Myrtenaster, a faint glyph appeared to the left of her form. _Come on_. _Summon like she could!_

Frantically, the glyph began to spin brilliantly and then flickered. It faded and simultaneously shined. Like the shadow of a windmill.

In response, Weiss tightened her grip until her knuckles turned white. Her eyes were squeezed shut in concentration.

It was then that Winter's words rang out. They were vivid and stern. Like she was standing right next to her.

" _You will summon sooner or later and I will be there when it happens."_

Weiss grit her teeth and stared at the sparkling, wintry floor.

Having Winter be a witness to her summoning would no longer be possible.

 _Winter!_

Her efforts were in vain.

Whatever excess energy she had was sapped. Her knees buckled as she collapsed to frigid floor.

 _I'm so sorry… I'm useless… I can't even summon. Much less have you witness it._

The glyph died out as the beowolves lunged.

Weiss just sat there and stared at the ground, panting from the harsh exertion.

She didn't care if she took a hit. From what she could discern, she deserved it.

She deserved more than that.

She felt like she deserved to die.

Especially in Winter's place.

Winter had so much more potential than her, so then why was Weiss the one left alive!?

That's right…

It's because there's greedy people in the world.

The greedy people who crave power.

Greedy people like Cinder.

Weiss felt something spark in her.

New determination.

New hope.

She found another reason to keep moving forward, but it wasn't out of the kindness in her heart.

She felt an emotion she'd never experienced before stir within her.

Instead of fighting it, she let it overcome her. Surge over her in a tidal wave.

 _Cinder..._

Before the beowolves could claw her, a form shielded her.

The person retaliated with several punches. The all too familiar girl with a wild blonde mane shot her gauntlets and defeated the remaining hologrammed grimm.

Yang almost slipped a few times because of the icy surface, but she found her balance and finished the fight.

After Yang made sure no more would materialize, she focused her attention on Weiss, who was still blankly staring at the floor.

"Weiss!" Yang knelt next to her and hesitated to touch her. "Are you okay? What are you doing?"

When she received no response, Yang didn't know what to do, so she did what came natural for her and went in for a hug. Despite the initial reluctance, she pulled the heiress close and flamed her aura.

It was cold enough in this freezing room. Weiss was like an icicle in her arms, but she wasn't shivering and didn't return the hug.

Yang was frightened. She'd never seen her teammate like this before.

To find her like this in the training room a few hours after she fainted…

There was all kinds of worry shooting through her.

Weiss didn't know how, but somehow, she was coaxed to stand.

There was slight movement, but an overall numbness.

"Easy, _easy,_ " the blonde murmured. When they were on their feet, she pulled her in an embrace. "I gotcha."

Weiss didn't even realize Yang was there until her teammate murmured directly in her ear.

The heiress' voice was dry. "It's okay, Yang."

Yang knew her words were false and she was willing to provide the support necessary to help her through this rough time.

The blonde knew more than anyone it wasn't healthy to bottle up emotions. After seeing her on the floor unconscious in Blake's arms, Yang was worried sick.

Especially after learning Winter had died.

"Please…" Yang pleaded in a concerned voice. Her chin was in the crook of the shorter girl's neck as she whispered in her ear. "Try to feel something. Sadness, anger, envy… _anything._ I'm worried. _We're_ worried."

Still, Weiss didn't return the embrace, her arms limp by her side.

"Don't worry…" Weiss' eyes flashed red and her expression matched her tone- blank. "I feel something."

* * *

 **Oh shit!**

 **The chapter is titled after Amalee's version of Let Me Hear:**

"' **It's a world of chaos,' but don't lose hope. You are the reason why I dream."**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	59. Numb

Several weeks after the news of Winter's death, Ruby and Yang decided to get the vampire sisters to hang out with them and team JNPR.

Not to do assignments. Just to talk and have fun.

They knew it'd be difficult for them to enjoy themselves, especially after losing a loved one. But they didn't want them to be alone with their thoughts.

They knew more than anyone that the vampire sisters would blame themselves for Winter's death.

The day after Yang brought Weiss back from the training ground late at night, the two agreed to keep it a secret.

Yang didn't want to upset Weiss. She was going through a hard-enough time.

The morning after the day of Winter's death, Blake told the sisters the details.

Of course, Blake had to take a few breaks in between when she told her teammates the details of Winter's death, including what Qrow was up to and what his role was. With a few kleenexes in the trashcan, Blake persevered and said everything her parents told them. Ruby and Yang were obviously worried for their friend and for Weiss, too.

The aristocrat showed emotion, while Weiss just sat there and stared in the distance like a doll. She'd been like that since she fainted after discovering her sister had died.

Weiss didn't even help Blake tell the story. Like she wasn't all there. She'd been like that for a few days, so the sisters wanted to get them out of the room.

Currently, they were sitting in the bakery in Vale with team JNPR. A personal favorite.

The other team was warned beforehand of what happened and offered their condolences.

Each person bought their favorite pastry and bread. Ruby and Yang were just happy to see the vampire sisters try to eat something.

Blake nibbled on the piece of bread and her cat ears were flat on her head. It was the same bread she bought in the same bakery back when she first met her teammates.

Her wonderful, troublesome teammates.

The ones who were there for her no matter what.

She didn't like it when they worried for her, so she forced herself to eat and swallowed what she could manage.

A faint smile grew on Ruby's lips. "Is it good?"

"What do you mean?" Blake quipped. "It's the same kind I always get."

The leader held out her own bread, which was the same order. "I know. It's yummy. You have good tastes."

"That's the first time I've been told that," the blood-faunus stared at the bread in her hand. "You're weird."

"Tell me something I don't know!" Ruby happily chirped.

"You know what else is weird?" Nora added. "The fact that Jaune poops twice a week!"

Pyrrha looked like she felt sorry for the poor boy while Ren wore an amused expression. Yang, Ruby and Blake let slip a few giggles and Weiss was thinking that was too much information.

"Nora!" Jaune yelped. "How do you keep finding out about this stuff?!"

"Never underestimate my resources, captain," Nora mocked a salute. "You know what else? He totally has a crush on-"

Jaune frantically covered his hands over her mouth as she spouted incoherent words.

"Nora," Ruby started. "Don'tcha think poor Jaune has had enough teasing?"

Jaune slowly removed his hands from her mouth as she seemed deep in thought.

"Nope!"

Yang shrugged and gazed at Jaune. "That's the best you're gonna get."

As the teams continued talking, Weiss was in her own world. She was too busy thinking of her duties now that Winter was gone.

 _I'm the last pureblood in the family besides my parents,_ Weiss thought.

Suddenly, she recalled what Cardin had said to her a few months ago.

" _You will be mine one day. Our race demands it."_

Weiss was starting to think he was right. Now that Winter was gone, Weiss was the only one left to carry on the bloodline. Her parents couldn't have another kid, so it was up to her to mate with a pureblood and have a baby.

Unintentionally, Weiss cringed from the thought.

 _Come to think of it,_ she narrowed her eyes in concentration. _Winchester has been absent for a while._

That's right… she hadn't seen him since the night of the dance.

The night Cinder attacked.

She felt a slight nudge in her side and looked up to see Pyrrha.

The redhead flashed her an inviting, yet concerned smile. "Are you going to eat your food?"

Weiss looked down at her plate and noticed she hadn't even nibbled on the measly piece of bread. She completely forgot about the food.

"No," all those thoughts bothered her too much. "You can have it if you want it."

Pyrrha seemed taken aback from the offer and leaned in from across the table. "I'm not your teammate, but I'm your friend," she murmured lowly. "We're all worried," she pushed the plate closer to Weiss. "Eat a little, for us?"

The heiress noticed a worried glance from Yang and the concerned expression on Pyrrha's face. Seeing as they genuinely cared for her well-being, she took a bite.

"Okay."

* * *

"Qrow!" Wilhelmina yelled. "I can't believe you,you brought a _baby_ here?!"

"I'm sorry, I uh…"

Wilford couldn't pry his eyes away from the tiny baby in Qrow's arms. "Is it yours?"

The baby let out a high-pitched squeal as Qrow rocked it back and forth, murmuring sweet words.

"Yes," Qrow answered and secured the white, soft blanket around the tiny baby.

Wilhelmina and Wilford gasped as they approached him in curiosity. If the baby was his, they were interested in what it looked like.

Wilhelmina used her dainty fingers to gently lower the blankets to reveal the infant's fragile face.

The baby adorned a wide grin. Its hair was as white as snow and it had the brightest red eyes like Qrow's own. Its red eyes contained innocence and were kind.

Wilhelmina was willing to do anything to keep it that way.

When a vampire's eyes shift red, it's out of hatred and rage.

But this infant's shade of red was warm and inviting.

Wilhelmina could tell it was Qrow's baby as the infant reached out to grab Wilhelmina's hand.

The baby curled its little fingers around one of Wilhelmina's fingers as she studied the baby's features.

It looked familiar…

Wilhelmina's jaw almost dropped. Her eyes started to water as she covered her free hand over her mouth.

"You didn't…"

Wilford didn't know what his wife was talking about, so he leaned over to absorb the infant's features as well.

Slowly, Mr. Schnee's eyes shifted red as he met Qrow's gaze. The three were silent, including the baby.

Wilford dared asked the question. "Who's the mother?"

Dead silence filled the air as Qrow gulped.

In case the pureblood didn't like the answer, Qrow protectively tucked the infant into his chest.

"Winter."

* * *

 _Flashback..._

After trudging through the thick snow for several minutes with Winter's lifeless body in his arms, Qrow finally made it back to the wooden cabin they'd resided in for a couple of days.

Obviously, it was a traumatizing struggle for him. Out of all his years as a professional huntsman, Qrow's never had to do something like _this_.

Frantically, Qrow laid Winter on the couch. She was freezing cold and she had no pulse.

It was too late...

It didn't look like she was no longer alive. She looked so peaceful, like she was sleeping and would wake up soon.

Qrow set his jaw and wiped away the remaining tears that cascaded down his cheeks.

Talking with his love again was a torturous fantasy.

He couldn't afford to spend time thinking those thoughts. Seeing Winter like this was painful, too painful. The only thing that kept him going was that there was a slight glimmer of hope that their child could live.

 _Our baby… how do I save-_

Suddenly, a yellow dilating glyph appeared in the middle of the room.

That power only belonged to one person.

 _He_ had more than anyone could even comprehend.

Reluctantly, Qrow's warm hands left Winter's cold stomach so he could greet the new arrivals.

"Oz, Glynda. Why're you here?"

The last thing he expected were visitors. They were in the middle of a snow infested forest in a cabin.

"We're here to save the child," Ozpin was curt, anticipating they didn't have much time.

Without a word, Ozpin pushed passed the worried Qrow and hovered a single palm over Winter's stomach, which only had a slight bump.

"What are you doing?" Qrow asked. His red eyes were fixed on the time glyph that was spinning rapidly above Winter's body.

Gynda knew Ozpin needed full concentration for this technique, so she answered for him.

"He's accelerating the pregnancy to nine months so it's safe to deliver the baby. If you want the child to live, I'd suggest you let him concentrate."

A million thoughts swarmed Qrow's mind.

How'd they even know Winter was pregnant? How'd they have such good timing? Why was Ozpin helping him?

No, Qrow knew the answer to the last question.

No one in existence knew Ozpin's carefully hidden secret except him. Not even Glynda knew.

Ozpin was a pureblood vampire.

Qrow had kept this fact to himself, so he guessed Ozpin wanted to show his gratitude.

Qrow accidentally found out about Ozpin's secret a long time ago.

He figured it was never his place to tell anyone anything personal about the headmaster. He didn't think keeping his trap shut was worth returning a favor, but it obviously meant a lot to Ozpin, something Qrow didn't understand.

But that didn't matter right now.

Right now, Ozpin was working to save the baby.

 _Qrow's_ baby.

As time passed, Winter's stomach grew bigger, as if she had carried the baby for a full conception period, when it'd only been a couple of months.

Sensing he was almost done, Qrow and Glynda figured it was safe to join Ozpin's side. They watched the process in astonishment. Their calculating eyes were fixed on Winter's rising stomach as the time glyph started to slow down.

Slowly but surely, Ozpin's time glyph dissipated as he removed his hand from her now large belly. With a smile of relief, Ozpin turned to Qrow and gestured to the womb.

"Go ahead."

With permission, Qrow set a warm palm on the cold stomach. Seconds later, there was a sign of life when there was a strong kick.

Despite losing his beloved, a smile slipped on Qrow's lips. At least something good came from today. The baby was alive and literally kicking.

From the kick, the baby seemed much stronger than it was several minutes ago when Qrow felt it the first time. He took that as a good sign and smiled gratefully.

"We need to get the baby out of there, and fast," Glynda informed.

Ozpin and Qrow nodded, knowing they couldn't lose time.

Qrow removed his hands from Winter's stomach.

"Hurry."

* * *

 _Present..._

Wilford lowly growled as he flared his zehn and aura threateningly. "Winter's the mother? Explain right now!"

To calm him, Wilhelmina wrapped her arms around her husband. "Dear, please compose yourself. We don't want to accidentally hurt the baby, now do we?"

Wilford took some deep breaths. After composing himself, Qrow spoke.

"I know you wanted Winter to continue the pureblood line," he stated and kept his hand wrapped around the baby's head. "But I wanted her to be truly happy."

Wilhelmina bit her lip in frustration. "Are you saying she wasn't happy?"

"No," Qrow answered. "I just wanted to put her on a pedestal where she belonged. She was… the first and only person I've fallen in love with."

It felt so surreal to Qrow when he said that. A few days ago, he confessed to Winter and now, as he stood with their baby in his arms, he was proud to announce it.

The pureblood couple stood there and weighed his heavy words. They appreciated the fact that Qrow said 'person,' more than likely subconsciously. Even though Winter was a pureblood, Qrow saw her as a person he happened to fall in love with.

Not some vampire.

Not a pureblood.

A person.

"And soon enough, she fell for me, too," Qrow answered with his voice tinged in sadness. "This baby girl, _your_ granddaughter, is the result of our love."

Wilhelmina and Wilford took in his confession. It was strange to see the man be so sincere.

The couple knew that after all those years of being by each other's sides, Qrow and Winter would possibly fall in love. They didn't think it would happen, but they certainly didn't rule out the possibility.

Instead of being furious, Wilhelmina sauntered over to Qrow and gently held out her hands. Qrow cautiously handed her the baby and coaxed her in her protective arms.

Qrow could tell Wilhelmina already loved the baby as much as he did, so he had no problem trusting his child with her.

Wilhelmina gazed down at the baby girl, tears escaping from her eyes. She gently smoothed a finger through the infant's scraggly white hair with a smile.

Wilhelmina couldn't help but think the baby was helpless, small, and perfect.

"Hi, baby," she cooed softly. "I'm your grandmother, Wilhelmina."

The baby let out a giddy whine and reached for her hand. In response, Mrs. Schnee happily wrapped her hand around hers, savoring the soft contact. The infant's hand was a smooth as a baby's butt.

 _No shit,_ Wilhelmina thought. _She's a baby. What'd I expect?_

Wilhelmina gasped when the realization hit her. "My goodness, Wilford…We're grandparents. Are we that old?"

Wilford chuckled. "We certainly don't look like we're old."

It was true. For being alive for so many years, the couple still looked young. One of the benefits of being a pureblood.

Wilford smiled fondly at the sight of his wife holding his granddaughter. "Is she a vampire or a human?"

If a pureblood vampire mated with a human, the chances the offspring would be human are very low. If the offspring turned out to be a vampire, it would never be a pureblood due to the human genes. It would be an aristocratic vampire like Blake.

"Human," Qrow confidently answered. "She has an aura too, so she can become a huntress one day if she wants."

The purebloods sighed in relief. If the baby turned out to be a vampire, it would lead a tough life and suffer through the things they were put through.

Being a human spared the baby a ton of grief.

Wilhelmina rocked the baby softly, a hand protectively around her tiny head. "What's her name?"

Qrow smiled. It was safe to say his baby was already accepted into the family.

"Her name is…"

* * *

After the teams finished their food, they were about to leave the bakery.

Before they did, the T.V. station announced a breaking news story.

Teams RWBY and JNPR whipped their heads to the television, Blake's cat ears perked up and alert.

"In other news," Lisa Lavender began. "Several White Fang hideouts have been destroyed by an unknown assailant."

The people who happened to be listening started to cheer with glee. This meant that the White Fang would be less of a threat to society.

Meanwhile, Blake tilted her head in confusion, wondering who would have a motive to destroy multiple hideouts.

Sure, lots of people didn't like the organization. Hell, it was responsible for her parent's deaths. But the fact that someone took down multiple hideouts _alone_ baffled her.

"Citizens praise the unknown perpetrator," Lisa continued, which received nods. "But is what the perpetrator is doing just?"

That made everyone in the humble bakery shut their mouths, taking in her words.

"Reports say that faunus have died because of the obliteration of the hideouts," Lisa stated. "Even though the White Fang is a corrupt organization, do they deserve this bloodshed?"

"How awful," Pyrrha muttered. "Simply atrocious."

"Yeah!" a random person shouted. "The White Fang are nothing but scum!"

"Hey," Yang called. "Just because some misguided faunus are part of the White Fang doesn't mean they deserve to die!"

"Yeah?!" the guy yelled back. "Tell that to my dead brothers and sisters!"

Yang tightened her fists and bit her tongue from lashing out. "Violence just breeds more violence!" she countered. "More violence means more bloodshed!"

"Whatever, blondie," the random man replied. "Spare me the petty lecture. The White Fang are getting what they deserve. Whoever is destroying their hideouts is a hero!"

Yang slammed her fists on the table and stood in a fury. "They're murderers!"

Ruby tried to rub her arm to calm her sister, but it had no effect.

"Tch," the man waved off and headed to the door. "I have much better things to do than bicker with a kid."

Yang's face furrowed in anger. She was about to go after the man, but a hand on her arm stopped her.

"It's okay, Yang," Blake reassured. "Let it go," her cat ears flattened under her bow, showing her partner she had enough.

The blonde took a deep breath and sat down next to Blake as they continued to listen to the news.

"Reports say the assailant wears all black and has red eyes," Lisa continued. "Some people describe the person as the 'Shadow with Red Eyes.' No one even knows if the intruder is male or female. However, some believe it is a female due to their slender frame."

The atmosphere was filled with mirth before the story came on. Attitudes had changed. Everyone had been dead silent, besides Yang, who thankfully, wasn't afraid to express her views.

The report continued. "If you have some information about the assailant, please call-"

"You guys ready to go?" Nora asked the group.

"Yeah," Ren replied while the others nodded.

The teams stood and left the bakery to find a fun thing to do in town.

* * *

Around three in the morning, Weiss shot her eyes open like internal clockwork.

She slipped out of bed and scanned the room, making sure no one was awake.

It was now her normal routine.

The heiress grabbed the backpack she kept under her bed and left Myrtenaster next to her combat outfit in the closet.

Zwei whimpered when his sleeping buddy was about to leave the room this late again, but he was immediately silenced when Weiss glared daggers at him.

The little corgi never received an expression so scary from the girl, so he elected to bow his head and resumed resting on the girl's bed.

With a blank expression, Weiss put one finger over her lips as she stared at the dog. Her red eyes pierced the darkness. The little corgi gazed at her with concern and just laid there.

The heiress shut the door carefully, making sure it didn't make a sound.

After, she hurried to the ladies' public restroom and got to work.

After entering one of the stalls, she changed out of her nightgown and into black leggings and a tight-fit long sleeved black shirt.

When she was dressed, she put her hair up in a bun like Winter's hairstyle.

She tucked the white bun under a black and red baseball cap, then slipped on knee-high black boots.

When she was done, she scampered out of the stall and stared at herself in the mirror. She didn't like what she saw staring back.

A shell.

 _Time to go again._

She sauntered over to the window after she grabbed her backpack. After pushing up the window, the heiress landed outside with ease with her glyphs.

She wasted no time and skid across the grass to her destination.

It took a few minutes to arrive, but when she saw the place, she halted in the bushes and took cover.

She took out an item from the backpack and placed it over her face.

A grimm mask.

It was the mask Blake attained back when they first infiltrated a White Fang hideout.

Weiss found it odd that the blood-faunus kept the item, but it came in handy.

The heiress left the backpack hidden and emerged from cover.

With determination raging, she literally strolled into the rundown building. This time it wasn't guarded by security, so entering was no problem.

This White Fang hideout seemed to lack guards, something she didn't want.

The more people, the better.

When she rounded a corner, she bumped into an angry dog faunus who was holding a gun.

Since she was wearing a mask, the guard assumed she was a member of the White Fang.

"State your number and unit," he demanded.

Weiss remained silent and grabbed him by the collar after knocking the weapon out of his hand.

"W-what do you think you're doing?!"

He saw blue eyes through the mask flare blood-red, and she held an ever-present poker face, something that made him yelp.

"Y-you're-"

Weiss pivoted on her heel and positioned him in a choke hold as she straddled him from behind. She conjured up an ice shard with her zehn and held it dangerously close to his neck.

"Where is Cinder Fall?"

"Wh-who?"

"Don't play dumb with me!" Weiss shouted. "I know she worked with you guys in the past. Where is she?!"

"I-I really don't know!" the dog faunus yelped. "Please don't kill me!"

Weiss grit her teeth and furrowed her eyes in frustration. "Are you really trying to tell me you don't know where she is, either?!"

Suddenly, the entire hideout started to flash red and an alarm began to chime loudly, incessantly.

The White Fang member struggled to get out of her grip. "My comrades know you're here! J-just let me go!"

With a growl, Weiss kicked him to the ground as he grunted in pain. Before she ran in another direction, she trapped his feet to the floor with her ice of steel.

Satisfied, she swiftly rounded a corner. The chiming of the alarm still rang and reverberated throughout the hideout.

Three guards appeared at the end of the hallway.

The middle member was a bull faunus with red hair. He didn't like the fact that his home was threatened by this puny intruder.

The guard to the left pointed. "It's the Shadow with Red Eyes!"

"It was only a matter of time," the guard to the right stated.

Weiss simply crossed her arms as they charged her. She glared down the trio like they were mere nuisances and stood tall.

"Where's Cinder Fall?!"

"Heh," the bull faunus scoffed and inched closer to her. "Never heard of her."

His tone suggested he was messing with her, and that almost sent Weiss over the edge of rage.

The three men were about to lunge at their enemy, but Weiss was unamused and stomped her foot. This caused several ice picks to sprout from the floor and blocked the distance of attack.

"Wh-what the?!" one of the guards yelped.

"How'd she do that?!"

The bull faunus took several steps back, his eyes not able to pry away from the new deadly daggers. "What the _hell_ are you?"

The heiress strolled up to them after she cleared a path at will. Some of the ice faded as she walked down the middle toward her opponents.

"I'll ask one more time," the vampire's tone lowered threateningly. "Where. Is. Cinder?"

One of the lackeys yelled. "We dunno what the hell you're talkin' about you crazy bitch!"

While his companions retorted, the bull faunus readied himself to strike.

This intruder was asking for it.

Weiss scowled from the insult and unleashed the unbridled hatred that had been stirring within her.

 _It's all Cinder's fault._

 _It's all her fault!_

" **It's all her fault!"**

The fact that she couldn't find the woman who murdered her sister set her nerves on edge. She'd go through hell and back to get vengeance for her beloved sister.

For her family.

With an ear-piercing scream, the entire building was enshrouded in a menacing white light.

"Damn you-!" the bull faunus never finished his sentence as ice engulfed his form.

The hideout was coated in layers upon layers of ice in a prison.

The alarm stopped screaming when it was frozen solid.

In her blood-red vision, Weiss stared blankly at the aftermath. _Her_ aftermath.

As soon as her hatred raged in a blizzard, it vanished into nothingness.

Crimson orbs shifted to an empty gray.

She didn't even feel anything when she saw the three guards frozen solid.

She was numb.

* * *

 **Weiss is on a downhill spiral. Huehue. Congrats to AUMater's for predicting that she'd "go crazy and try to go after Cinder." XD**

 **You shouldn't be surprised if you listened to the songs or watched the Parasyte anime. *Spoiler* the Let Me Hear song and Parasyte anime reveal the baby is human. In Parasyte, Ryouko Tamiya's child is a boy, buuuuuuuuuut a girl fit the part better, especially since the baby is supposed to look like Winter, so surprise!**

 **The lyrics from Nate's version of Let Me Hear:**

" **A human baby, when will they find out?"**

 **I know that might not be Ozpin's power, but this is fanfiction. Not canon. He can do whatever the hell I want him to do ;)**

 **My newest fic called Time to Make History will be released November 4th! Watch out for it!**

 **WOOOOOO RWBY VOLUME 5 IS OUT! GO WATCH IT'S SOOOOO GOOD THAT INTRO THO!**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	60. When Will You Let Me Hear?

Several weeks went by since Winter's death.

Of course, Wilford and Wilhelmina had checked on their vampire daughters whenever they could to provide support. They called if they found the time, which wasn't as often as they liked.

Since Qrow had arrived at the castle with his baby, the three understandably had their hands full.

Not only with the baby, but with running the company.

The baby girl was still an infant and required constant attention, something Wilford, Wilhelmina, and Qrow were willing to provide with unconditional love and tender care.

"Wilford!" Qrow shouted. "Aves crapped again!"

In response, Wilhelmina gently grabbed the baby from him and laid the tiny infant on the changing table.

"Why the hell do you think Wilford can change her?" Wilhelmina chided. "Honestly, I was the one who changed Weiss and Winter's diapers when they were babies."

"Um," Wilford said as he appeared in the doorway. "Standing right here."

"Good!" she exclaimed. "You needed to hear that."

"Ouch," Qrow almost cringed. "That must've hurt."

"Hush," Mrs. Schnee said. "Watch me work my magic. Whether you like it or not, you need to know how to change her diapers."

As Qrow muttered something under his breath, the pureblood gazed down at her granddaughter. She couldn't help but compare Aves to how her daughters looked when they were this age. When Weiss and Winter were this tiny, they looked exactly like Aves, minus the red eyes. The infant had the same snow white hair and features as her daughters as well, something Wilhelmina had a hard time adjusting to.

She was still mourning her eldest daughter's death, so seeing Aves like this sent her heart soaring and weeping at the same time.

Qrow watched the diaper changing process. Wilhelmina made sure to take it slow so Qrow understood how to change a diaper easily. Wilford was surprised to see Qrow take something this seriously. He was a new man.

No, that wasn't it.

Qrow was a father.

A father trying his best for his baby girl.

"There!" Wilhelmina announced. "Aves is as good as new."

She handed the dirty diaper to Qrow, which made him recoil as he scrunched his nose.

"Gross," Qrow complained as he barely pinched the diaper. "Why'd you give it to me?"

"You have to do something," Wilhelmina replied knowingly with satisfaction in her tone.

Qrow groaned and tossed the diaper in the trash can. After that, he tied it in a bag and heaved it around his back, not wanting to let the stench stink up the whole castle. "Thanks Wilhelmina," he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "I don't know what I'd do without your help."

"Don't mention it," she replied. "She's our granddaughter."

Wilford chimed in. "Even if Aves is a human, she's still family," he gazed at Qrow. "You're family."

"God," Qrow rolled his eyes as he hefted the smelly trash bag. "You're so cheesy."

Wilhelmina cheerily grinned as she carefully lifted the baby infant into her protective arms. "When are you going to tell Ruby and Yang?"

"Huh?" Qrow was perplexed by the question.

Wilford gave him a look. "Were you seriously planning to not tell them about Aves? She's the newest addition to your family and mine."

"I'll tell them sooner or later," Qrow said. "I just don't know when."

It was obvious the huntsman had been pondering ways to do so. At least for a while.

"Let's tell them the same time Weiss and Blake find out, okay?" Wilhelmina offered. "The whole team will be thrilled to learn about Aves."

"Especially since she's…" Wilford murmured as he gazed at the infant. "Winter's daughter."

Qrow soothed his thumb through his daughter's hair as she smiled, her red eyes brightened the room.

"You're right."

* * *

The season was changing to fall, so it was chilly outside.

As time passed, slowly but surely, Blake and Weiss had returned a little to their normal selves.

They still carried immense sadness and regret for their sister's death, and hoped those awful feelings would fade.

Sometimes, they still thought they'd receive a phone call from Winter.

Since Weiss got colder more easily, she was wearing white gloves and a long white scarf over her combat outfit. Ruby adorned the same, but instead wrapped her red cape around herself.

Blake kept her normal black scarf around her and wore a black duffle coat over her outfit, while Yang adorned her orange-red scarf and usual combat outfit. She never got genuinely cold.

"I don't understand how you can eat that many cookies," the heiress said after a sigh. "You could break a world record."

Ruby devoured several more after the comment. "Owah thwanks!"

"That wasn't a compliment," Weiss replied evenly. "And don't talk with your mouth full."

Ruby pounded her chest to make it easier to gulp down the food. "Eheheh, my bad."

For a team day, as Ruby so wonderfully put it, the four had been walking through Vale to enjoy the chilly air.

Suddenly, Yang grabbed Weiss' arm. It was gentle, almost yearning. "You two go on ahead," she said. "I need to talk with her about a few things."

"Oh, okay," Ruby agreed. "Let's go, Blake."

"Okay," the blood-faunus said. "I know where we can pass the time."

"Lead the way," Ruby beamed.

The pair walked side-by-side and were out of sight.

"What do you need?" Weiss asked almost irritably.

Yang kept her grip on Weiss' arm. "Follow me."

"Not like I have a choice."

A minute later, the two had arrived in a humble coffee shop. The place was almost empty besides a few customers on laptops at their own tables.

After Yang ordered and received her drink, the two sat at a booth in a far corner of the store.

"How are you?" the blonde asked.

Weiss playfully rolled her eyes. "Cut to the chase, brute."

Yang took a sip of her warm drink and seemed in deep thought. "I mean it. How are you?"

"Pardon?" the heiress was taken aback from the question and perked a brow.

"I mean like… how are you coping?" Yang asked evenly. "With uh, you know…"

Weiss tapped the table once. Outside suddenly looked interesting as she gazed out the window. "Fine."

That response made Yang frown. "I talked with Ruby and Blake."

Weiss focused her attention back to the blonde. "So?"

"Soooo," the blonde drawled knowingly. "They said they haven't even seen you cry since Winter died."

Weiss set her hand under her chin, once again retreating into herself, the feeling of isolation returning. "Your point?"

 _What's she trying to do?_ Weiss asked herself. _What's her goal?_

"Blake goes to us whenever she needs to let it all out," Yang said levelly. "But you- you haven't expressed _anything_ since then," her tone was earnest. "It's like you're empty. Like only a shell remains. We're all worried."

 _They care so much, but what she's trying to do doesn't matter,_ the heiress concluded.

The vampire's poker face took over as she stared at her teammate. "I don't have the luxury to cry."

"Weiss," Yang almost chided. "You need to mourn. It's not healthy to bottle up your emotions."

"Are you telling me you want me to break down right here and now?" Weiss deadpanned.

"If you feel the need," the blonde offered. "I'm just telling you if you need someone to lean on, I'm here. _We're_ here for you and you know that, which really bothers me. Why don't you want to come to your teammates? After all we've been through?"

"I'm sorry, Yang," Weiss offered. "I have a lot on my mind. Now that Winter's… gone…"

It felt so strange to say that.

"... Many responsibilities fall on me. I know that sounds selfish, but it's true."

Yang tilted her head. "Like what?"

"A human wouldn't understand," the heiress said blandly.

"Ohhhh," the blonde said in realization. "Is it about the whole bloodline thing?"

"Yes," Weiss answered.

The last thing she wanted to talk about was her vampire responsibilities. If she talked about them, the more real they became. It was one thing to talk about it with her sister, but with her teammate?

She didn't know why, but there was suddenly more weight on her heart.

"Does that mean you have to get with Cardin?" Yang asked. "I don't know much about purebloods and vampires and all that, but is that it?"

Seeing Yang look so rejected hit a pang in Weiss' heart.

"Yes," Weiss replied dryly. "I must procreate with him. I have no choice."

Gently, the blonde grasped the pale hand on top of the table, smoothing it gently with her thumb. "Maybe you don't."

The heiress adored her soft, yearning touch, however, she was too preoccupied by what she said to enjoy the contact. "What?"

"Being with him wouldn't make you happy, right?"

Lilac clashed with azure.

The heiress pulled her hand away as she gazed at Yang. "No, but my feelings don't matter. Being a pureblood means making sacrifices. It's not something I'd expect you, a human, to understand."

 _Why's she making this harder?_

Yang leaned back in the cushiony booth. "It might be simpler than you think."

It couldn't be that easy, could it?

Was Yang mocking Weiss' entire life?

Her responsibilities?

Like they were nothing?

"Pardon?"

"Think about it," Yang went on. "Your parents would care if you were miserable with an asshole like Cardin."

Weiss simply sat there, weighing her words.

"You _can_ do something about it," the blonde informed. "If I were you, I wouldn't just accept it if it'd make me lonely or sad."

Yang was mostly saying this because she wanted more than anything to be by her side. To make her happy. To be with her through thick and thin. To share all the sorrows and happiness life could throw at them.

She wanted, no, _needed_ to be with her.

Just thinking about Weiss with someone other than her made her heart ache.

"Spare me your nonsense," Weiss said, her tone empty and devoid of emotion. "Say what you will, but that won't take away my responsibilities to my race."

Caring lilac eyes tinted a slight red, which catching Weiss off guard. "The Weiss I know would've yelled at me just now."

"Are we done here?" Weiss didn't seem to mind the snide remark and sat there with a blank expression.

Yang bit her lip as she leaned over the table, tearing her gaze away to look out the window.

Her tone dripped with frustration, but more prominent sadness.

"I guess…"

* * *

"U-Um, Ruby?"

"Yeeeeees?"

Blake's cheeks flushed from what she was about to say. It was crazy; it was insane. No way would Ruby do that in public. It was worth a try.

"C-can you rub my cat ears?"

Ruby did a spit take, spewing her coca cola all over the wooden table. Blake frantically leaned forward and rubbed soothing circles on Ruby's back as she coughed.

"You don't have to," the aristocrat shyly looked away. "It's just- it's been a while."

Ruby waved her hands frantically. "No, no! I don't mind. We're in public, though. Are you sure you're okay with that?"

The blood-faunus scanned the store they were inside. It was mostly vacant, besides a few workers here and there. The humble deli shop was owned by a faunus couple, so most of the workers there were faunus.

Being around her kind made Blake feel comfortable asking for the favor. She wasn't a normal faunus, but ordinary people didn't know that.

"It's okay," Blake assured. "Only if you want to."

"Of course I want to," Ruby beamed as she scooted closer to her teammate. "Your ears are so soft and cute. You should be proud of them."

For the first time in a long time, Blake laughed, which caused Ruby to feel overjoyed. After watching Blake be sad for so long, Ruby's heart was fluttering at the mere sight of Blake enjoying herself for once.

Blake leaned into Ruby's shoulder so she could easily reach the appendages.

Ruby's eyes were twinkling as she gently gripped the cat ears, but she frowned when the bow got in the way.

"Is it okay if I take off the bow?" Ruby innocently asked. "I'm sure your ears would feel better after being cooped up all day."

After she received a timid nod, Ruby carefully untied the fabric and set it on the wooden table. The leader made sure she blocked Blake's cat ears from most people's line of sight and began the massage.

Within seconds, Blake began purring, her head resting contentedly on Ruby's shoulder. The two were in bliss. The atmosphere was filled with bubbles and Ruby couldn't stop grinning. She gazed down at Blake, who adorned a faint smile and half-lidded eyes.

 _I'll keep you this happy forever,_ Ruby thought. _I promise._

* * *

After about an hour, team RWBY was back in their dorm room.

Walking in Vale provided a desperately needed break for them, but they had to go back to work.

Currently, each member was working on a different assignment from various classes.

Zwei sat next to Ruby on her bed while his owner studied. The little corgi was respectful and refrained from whining or barking.

The room was relatively silent until the chime of a scroll lingered.

Weiss' eye twitched from the noise as she felt the vibration in her pocket. Reluctantly, she pulled out her scroll to see who the caller was.

"Who is it?" Blake asked.

"Mom," Weiss replied. "Sorry, I need to take this," she slid the 'answer' button and waited for the screen to show Wilhelmina.

"Hi, Weiss," Wilhelmina greeted, her grin evident. She noticed Yang, Ruby and Blake in the background. "Oh, hey to the whole team."

"Hey, mama Schnee," Yang greeted.

"What's up, mom?" Blake asked. "Do you need something?"

"Yes," Wilhelmina nodded. "I'd hate to ask you three this, but could you please give Weiss the room for a few minutes?"

The heiress' stomach dropped from the request.

She sensed something was wrong.

Something was terribly wrong.

Ruby sheepishly rubbed the back of her head from the odd request. "Uh, yeah no problem."

"Mom," Blake cut in. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes," Mrs. Schnee replied. "Now please."

"You got it," Yang assured. "Come on, guys."

The three walked over to the door. Before it shut, Blake said. "We'll be in the library for a bit, okay?"

"Okay," Weiss replied. "I'll let you know when you can come back."

"Alright," Ruby said. "Seeya soon."

When the door shut, Weiss focused her full attention on her mother.

"Mom, what do you need? What's wrong?"

Wilhelmina sighed and looked around the room on her side. "Are you sure you're alone?"

"Um," the heiress scanned her surroundings. "Yes, I'm alone."

Besides Zwei relaxing on her bed. She figured the little corgi didn't count.

It was strange her mom wanted her to be alone so desperately. Whatever Wilhelmina needed to say was urgent and couldn't be pushed to the side.

"I need to tell you something," Wilhelmina informed.

"What is it?" Weiss urged. "Tell me."

Wilhelmina took a deep breath and parted her lips several times, but she wanted to choose her words carefully. She was extremely hesitant.

"Mom," Weiss called, almost pleading. "Let me hear."

Whatever her mom had to say, she would hopefully be ready.

There was a tint of sadness in Wilhelmina's eyes that matched her tone. She ran her fingers through her bobbed white hair, looking troubled.

"You're not a pureblood."

* * *

 **Oho I've been waiting forever for the title drop!**

 **Aves is pronounced like 'ey-veez.' I'll explain why I picked that name later, but some of you probably already know the meaning.**

 **The chapter is titled after Natewantstobattle's version of Let Me Hear:**

" **What do I live for? Why do I fight? I need answers. 'When will you let me hear?'"**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**

 **P.S. #canonweissdeservesbetterhopemybabyisokay**


	61. Nothing Mattered

"You're not a pureblood."

Weiss found it hard to accept her mother's words.

Like it was a prank.

"I'm sorry, what?"

Wilhelmina bit her lip, preparing to repeat herself. The rejection in her daughter's voice was more than words could ever portray. "You heard me correctly, Weiss. You're not a pureblood."

There it went. Weiss' world shattered all over again.

The weight of those words...

She felt sick.

She hadn't felt this shocked since she found out Winter died.

Then again, the loss of a loved one could never compare to this.

"How?" Weiss questioned. "Does this mean…" she gasped at the epiphany. "You! You- you cheated on father?"

Wilhelmina looked extremely guilty and glanced away as her eyes watered. "A long time ago," it was obvious she wasn't proud of the revelation and her past.

The heiress' eyes became the size of dinner plates as she contemplated the situation. All her life, she modelled her parents' marriage after what she thought one should be. The perfect union was always present in her life.

Or so she thought.

"Does dad know?" Weiss dared asked.

Wilhelmina shook her head. "No. Winter never knew, your father doesn't know, Blake doesn't know. No one knows. Your biological father died ages ago."

Again, Weiss retreated into herself. This time unintentionally. The darkness had returned almost tenfold at the mention of another father. Subconsciously, she hugged herself as the isolated crept in and encased her.

Since there was no reply, Wilhelmina went on. "I'm so sorry. I've wanted to tell you all this time. Now that Winter is gone… I had to tell you. I waited a while to break the news so it'd be easier on you if that was possible, but you need to know… Winter was the last pureblood besides your father and I in our family."

As if the information didn't bother her, the heiress adorned a poker face, which frightened her mother. Faded gray eyes stared at the woman on screen, but for some reason, Wilhelmina didn't feel them on her. Like her daughter wasn't all there.

The female pureblood expected her to show anger, sorrow, or maybe even hatred, but not _this._

Some part of Wilhelmina wanted her daughter to blow up. At least show some kind of emotion.

If she wasn't frightened and concerned before, she was now.

"What am I?"

The mere question ripped Wilhelmina's heart in half. The empty voice her daughter used only served to screw the guilt deeper into her soul.

"You're an aristocrat," Wilhelmina informed. "Like your sister, Blake."

Everything Weiss was put through…

The multiple attempts on her life.

The people around her who suffered.

It was all for nothing!?

"Is that why I can't summon?"

"Hun-"

"Tell me!"

Wilhelmina sharply inhaled from the sudden snap. At least now her daughter was somewhat expressive.

"Yes," her mother replied. "Summoning is a pureblood power. You're not a pureblood, so that is an impossible feat."

The blackness around Weiss shattered into a million tiny pieces. The overbearing feeling of isolation had never truly vanished before. It came in tidal waves since Winter died. Now, it returned full force in the form of a tsunami.

After all those years of training with Winter…

All those years of practicing summoning…

Winter was _always_ by her side. Especially during practice.

Winter placed so much faith in her.

All Weiss wanted to do was prove that Winter could confidently place faith in her.

Now, Weiss thought that Winter's faith was misplaced.

"Thanks, mom," Weiss said lowly, dejectedly. "Winter would be so happy about this."

Any traces of Wilhelmina's guilt warped to anger when her eldest daughter was mentioned. "Don't you _dare_ use her against me."

Despite the threatening tone, Weiss wasn't the least bit intimidated. And it wasn't often that her mother got angry. In fact, that occasion was rare.

But she didn't care.

Nothing mattered.

Everything in Weiss' life…

Everything she was put through.

It didn't matter.

After being crushed over and over, nothing mattered.

 _It didn't matter._

Weiss was raised to believe that she was one of the last purebloods in existence along with Winter.

Winter was always more skilled than her.

Always better than her.

Always had more potential.

Now it made sense.

Weiss spoke dryly, her voice and expression devoid of all emotion. "The pureblood line will die out," she darkly chuckled. Not forcefully, somehow, naturally. "Are you happy?"

Wilhelmina met her daughter's dull eyes. "Of course not."

A silence.

Weiss remembered the things Wilhelmina used to do to bond with her children.

The giddy smiles, the shared laughter.

Utter betrayal.

Her mother of all people saw- witnessed- what Weiss was put through because of the assertion that she was a pureblood.

The hell she endured because of what she _thought_ she was.

What her parents put her through.

It wasn't only Weiss who experienced hell.

It was her whole team.

Ruby almost _died_ because Cinder wanted her so called 'pureblood power.'

Weiss was glad everyone survived the night.

If they hadn't, she would never forgive herself.

The only reason she believed she was a pureblood was because she was told. There was no proof. She could never perform a successful summon like Winter. Even after years of training.

Despite watching her struggle and berate herself her whole life, Wilhelmina didn't do a thing. Now that Weiss thought about it, her mother never reassured her that she would summon one day. It had always been either Blake, Winter, or Wilford.

Wilhelmina only watched.

Wilhelmina _knew_.

She knew Weiss wasn't a pureblood all this time.

And yet, she did absolutely nothing.

To Weiss, that was pure betrayal.

Not only for her, but a betrayal to her entire family.

After pondering such things, Weiss shook her head to clear her mind.

The fond memories of her childhood suddenly meant nothing.

Before bed, her mother would often read Winter and Weiss stories. After, she'd tuck them in for a good night's sleep.

The content of those books is what made Weiss sick.

"You used to tell us stories of grimm and monsters," Weiss recalled. "Little did I know, the true monster was the one narrating."

Before her mother could reply, Weiss hit the 'end call' button and set her scroll on the desk. She took a deep breath to compose herself, but the blackness surrounding her never vanished.

She didn't regret saying that to her mother.

 _I'm not a pureblood…_ she repeatedly told herself. _I'm a fraud._

Something furry nudged her leg, which snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked down and noticed it was Zwei. He was so quiet she almost forgot the little corgi was in the room.

Zwei stared up at the girl with his tongue lolled out.

Instead of a heartwarming smile, he received a blank expression. Zwei stopped panting eagerly when he noticed she looked like she'd been shot.

Weiss didn't say a word to the dog and robotically walked over to her dresser instead. After pulling out Myrtenaster, she left the room in dead, overbearing silence.

Muffled whimpers ensued outside the door.

* * *

"Guys," Ruby chimed. "It's been over an hour."

"Huh..." Yang muttered. "Do you think she needs more time?"

"Doubt it," Blake replied. "Let's head back. She probably forgot to tell us."

The sisters nodded in agreement and the three headed back to the room.

After Blake turned the doorknob, Yang sauntered in.

"Guess who's back!" she beamed gregariously.

No response.

"Weiss?" Yang called. "You in here?"

They were only met with Zwei's whimpers. The little corgi pawed the blonde's leg and his ears were flattened on his head. A blaring sign.

Ruby knelt to rub his short fur. "What's wrong, boy?"

Slowly, Zwei turned his head in the direction of Weiss' dresser and bed.

The team's eyes trailed to his line of sight. Her rapier was also gone.

"I'll be back," Yang stated. "I know where she is."

* * *

Ice coated the training arena. It glistened across the floor, windows, walls, and even roof.

No surface was spared from the cruel white.

 _Not good enough,_ Weiss chided herself and directed her rapier at the floor.

Three more hologrammed beowolves lunged at their target as they snarled.

A glyph appeared where the rapier was poised. Weiss held her ground as she stared at the grimm in boredom.

Soon enough, the little glyph started to spin.

 _Come on,_ the heiress pushed herself. _Summon, do it for Winter!_ _Please!_

But this time, the glyph didn't even flicker.

She knew summoning would be impossible.

She knew what she was doing was for nothing.

But some part of her felt like she could still try.

If anything, to show Winter she could do it.

When the beowolves got too close, she abandoned the attempt to summon and raised the rapier. She wrung out her aura to shoot out some ice dust at the targets.

Each beowolf was sent sprawling back and slid on the ice, howling in pain.

She was in denial.

There was no way she could summon.

Then why did she feel like she could?

Did Winter's death compel her to try even harder?

Weiss held out her palm and used zehn to kill all three beowolves. She conjured up one long, sharp ice shard that impaled each of them in the head.

Soon enough, the hologrammed grimm dissipated, only for two more ursa materialize.

Little did she know, Yang was in the background, desperately pounding on the door.

"Let me in!" Yang shouted.

She saw a glimmer of white inside the training room, but that was it. She gathered there was so much ice covering the room that the door was frozen shut.

 _Silly princess,_ Yang flared her aura. _Do you really think you can keep me out?_

In one strong burst, the blonde melted the ice on the door and busted it off its hinges. The door slammed onto the cold, hard ground as she stared at it with a smirk.

Yang noticed Weiss didn't even hear the loud noise as she continued to fight the hologrammed grimm.

The blonde watched in awe when a small glyph formed to the left of her teammate. It spun extremely fast. She'd seen her normal glyphs before, but this one was different and eye catching.

Before she knew it, the glyph died as Weiss let out a withering sigh before collapsing, her rapier clinking on the ground.

The blonde gasped and glided across the smooth surface to her teammate. Once she made it, she wrapped Weiss in her arms, noticing her body was trembling.

"Hey!" Yang yelped. "Are you okay? What happened?!"

Weiss tried to catch her breath as she gazed up at her blurry teammate. Her body only had enough energy to shudder from the strain and lack of energy.

"Don't talk yet," Yang said. "Just breathe."

 _I'm not a pureblood…_ Weiss thought, _which means…_

Yang soothed her fingers through her snow-white hair, her lilac eyes full of worry and concern.

 _I may be able to be with her._

"Are you okay?" Yang asked when Weiss started to breathe steadily.

"I am now," the heiress assured. "Sorry… to worry you."

As Weiss sat up, Yang braced her hand on her back, a million thoughts swarming her mind. "What made you do this? What did your mom say?"

"I'm a fraud," was all Weiss managed to choke out.

 _No,_ the heiress thought. _I'm worse than that. Yang said it herself. I'm a murderer._

"What does that mean?" the blonde pressed.

"She told me…" Weiss took a deep breath. "She told me I'm not a pureblood."

"What?!" Yang yelped. "How's that-" she gasped. "Oh."

"Yeah…" Weiss trailed off. "I'm not my father's child."

For some reason, Yang wasn't upset at her parents in the slightest. She wasn't even angry.

She was happy.

She felt selfish for feeling this way, especially since Weiss was so torn up about it.

But this meant Weiss didn't have to have a kid with Cardin.

Yang had a chance to be with her.

"So then, are you an aristocrat like Blake?" Yang asked.

"Yes," the heiress nodded. "I'm not the pureblood I thought I was," her tone was dry. "Isn't that great?"

"Weiss…"

"Please don't tell Blake or Ruby," the heiress begged. "I'll tell them soon, but I can't right now. I can't do it."

"Of course," Yang assured. "Take all the time you need."

Weiss knew she could trust Yang with this secret. She was the person who kept the vampire existence a secret from the world, after all.

"Thank you, Yang," Weiss said.

"No problem," the blonde beamed. "If it helps, I don't really care that you're not a pureblood."

Weiss seemed perplexed from her words, so Yang went on as she stood from the ice-cold floor.

"I mean… you're still you. Just because you're not a pureblood doesn't mean you're not the same princess we all know and love."

Weiss' cheeks flushed from the comment. "Brute."

"There's the princess I know," Yang beamed a grin and held out her hand. "Come on, we should get back. They're worried."

Yang could've sworn she saw Weiss crack a small smile. She thought she was imagining it since it was so tiny.

Weiss grasped her hand and stood. The two walked next to each other and exited the frozen wonderland to head back to their room.

"Maaaaaan," the blonde said, amusement in her tone. "I feel bad for whoever has to clean up your mess."

* * *

When Yang and Weiss returned, Weiss promised her remaining teammates she would tell them what her mother told her soon.

Ruby and Blake understood and didn't pester her for the remaining of the night.

As long as they found out sooner or later, they wanted Weiss to tell them when she was ready.

Later that night, around 3:00 A.M. Weiss shot her eyes open like clockwork.

She was about to get out of bed to head to her destination.

The newest White Fang hideout.

Instead, she heard faint sniffles across the room, prompting her to stay still and pretend to be asleep.

It sounded like Blake.

The sounds were heartbreaking as Weiss laid there, listening to every whimper.

She was about to get up to comfort her trembling sister, but her bunk shifted. She almost gasped when her partner landed on the floor with a thump.

That scared the crap out of her!

 _What is that dunce doing?_

Ruby leaned over Blake and noticed her cheeks were stained with tears, her eyes furrowed.

Gently, she wiped away the tears and roused her.

"Ruby…" Blake's eyes flickered in recognition. "What is it?"

Ruby sat on the edge of her bed and squeezed her hand. "You were crying."

"I'm sorry I woke you again," the blood-faunus looked guilty. "It's just…"

She couldn't continue as she tried to stifle her sobs.

Ruby scooted closer. "Hey, it's okay," she knew what she wanted to say. "You're going through a hard time right now and I'm here one hundred percent for you."

"Thank you, Ruby," the aristocrat said softly. "Can you do me a favor?"

Ruby tilted her head. "Of course I can rub your kitty ears again."

 _Again?_ Weiss thought. _I've never rubbed her cat ears and that dolt has done it multiple times?_ she was starting to feel a little jealous of her leader.

"N-no, not that…" Blake trailed off.

"Oh," Ruby was perplexed that wasn't what she wanted. "Then what is it?"

"Stay with me tonight."

Weiss and Ruby's jaws dropped.

 _Woah,_ Weiss thought. _I didn't know Blake could be so bold!_

"Uh-uh she, you, wh-huh?" Ruby failed to form coherent words.

"Y-you don't have to," Blake harshly whispered. "I-I just think I'd sleep better with you next to me."

Ruby gulped. Never in a million years would she ever imagine sleeping next to Blake.

But to be _invited_ to?!

She wasn't going to pass this up.

"N-no, I can!" Ruby replied more happily than she wanted to let on. "Can you scoot over?"

"Y-yeah," Blake's face was flushed.

What the hell did she get herself into?

After scooting closer to the edge of the bed, Ruby crawled in behind her, instantly providing more warmth.

The two were extremely nervous, and Ruby wasn't sure what she should do with her arms.

"U-uh, c-can I h-hug you?"

Blake almost giggled at how nervous her leader sounded. "Yes you can. In fact… it's preferred."

 _Oh my god. Go Blake,_ Weiss yelped internally.

Ruby gulped and scooted closer to Blake's form, her arms now draped over her. They were practically spooning, with Ruby directly behind her teammate. Ruby was so close to Blake she could feel her frantic heartbeat.

The leader gently scratched Blake's back to calm her. "It's okay. Try to go to sleep, yeah? I'll make sure you don't have another nightmare."

She'd personally chase away any more nightmares.

Blake cracked a smile. Now, she wasn't as nervous and accepted Ruby's presence as a guarding one.

"Thank you."

Meanwhile, Weiss was trying to process what the hell just happened. She was frozen in place, with only her hand moving and rubbing Zwei's broad head between his ears as he slept.

 _Guess I shouldn't try to get information tonight,_ Weiss thought. _It would take them too long to fall asleep and for me to get back before they wake up._

Reluctantly, she shut her eyes to get some rest, proud of her vampire sister for being so forward for once.

* * *

 **If you noticed, the narration notes never referred to Weiss as a pureblood. The only things that did were Weiss herself, her thoughts, and the people around her. I referred to Winter, the parents, and Cardin as purebloods, but NEVER Weiss. If you caught that, you shouldn't be surprised at all and you deserve a digital cookie.**

 **PSA: my new fic- Time to Make History- will be released November 4th! Watch out for it!**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	62. Where Are You Now?

**My new fic: Time to Make History is finally out!**

* * *

Unsurprisingly, professor Port's lecture was an eyesore and not to mention boring.

This point in the year, teams RWBY and JNPR had given up on attempting to pay attention to the man. His countless stories and tales of his heroism left them unimpressed and bored, almost leaving them in a slumber.

What subject did he teach again?

To stay awake, he vampire sisters casually sipped on their blood tablet water during the lecture. Every now and then, Blake's cat ears would flicker around the room. After only a few minutes, they became droopy.

Everything seemed normal, although the entire team noticed Cardin was still nowhere to be seen.

His absence was worrying, but they figured he might have transferred schools. Especially since his teammates elected their new leader and moved on without him like nothing occurred.

The recent string of events had certainly distracted them from their studies. Weiss wasn't paying attention at all. She was replaying the conversation she had with her mother the day before. Over and over like it was on tape and engraved in her memory. Stuck on repeat.

For now, her studies were second, which spoke volumes of how troubled she felt.

The next step was telling the rest of her team that she wasn't a pureblood. She wasn't worried about how Ruby would take the news; she was mostly worried about Blake.

Blake was the one by her side her all these years. Hell, she was hired as her bodyguard to protect her from harm. From the greedy people who wanted her 'pureblood' power. Now that Weiss knew she wasn't a pureblood, it was like Blake was hired and by her side for nothing.

The school bell chimed. Before the team knew it, they were back in their room and greeted by the familiar giddy ball of fur.

Everyone but Weiss knelt to greet Zwei. Yang and Ruby peppered kisses along his face, while Blake opted for a simple pat on his smooth back.

The dog eagerly panted and licked Ruby and Yang's face relentlessly, which caused Blake to cringe.

"That's so gross."

"Aw, kitten," Yang whined. "What's the matter? Can't handle a little dog slobber?"

"No," the aristocrat stated. "It's disgusting."

"Say that all you want," Ruby said in a teasing tone. "You pet him!"

Blake wiped the dog's fur off her hand like it was the grossest thing in the world. "Only because I feel sorry for him."

The leader tilted her head. "What? Why?"

"He's a dog," she poorly defended. "What an awful life to have."

"Laying around getting belly rubs all day?" Ruby questioned. "Sounds like a good life to me!"

While Ruby continued to tease the poor blood-faunus, Yang couldn't help but notice Weiss failed to greet the animal.

Normally, her white-haired teammate would shower Zwei with affection. The inseparable pair would sleep together at night, so Yang was a little concerned when Weiss didn't even spare him a glance.

"Hey," the blonde whispered and sat on the bed next to Weiss. "Whatcha thinkin' about?"

Weiss simply remained on the edge of her bed as it shifted due to the extra weight.

When she received no response, Yang murmured lowly. "Is it about the pureblood thing?"

Unsettled, Weiss placed her hands on her knees as she leaned forward and gave her a shy nod.

"Do you want to tell them now?" Yang asked. "I can get their attention if you want."

"Yes," the vampire murmured. "Might as well get this over with."

There was no way she could go for long with this sickening, twisted feeling in her stomach. The only way to make it fade was to tell her sister and leader the truth.

Her permission was all Yang needed to interrupt Ruby and Blake's conversation.

"Hey!"

Ruby and Blake stopped conversing and turned their attention to the blonde. Blake's cat ears were fully perked up and alert.

"Yeah?!"

"Why are we yelling!?" Ruby shouted, which caused Zwei to bark.

"Weiss wants to tell you what her mom said yesterday," Yang informed evenly and gazed at the bed in front of her. "Pop a squat."

That made Blake and Ruby shut up. Since the two were curious, they sat on Blake's bed directly across from them and leaned in with anticipation.

"What'd mom tell you?" Blake asked. "You've been acting a little strange since the call."

Weiss sighed, which caused Yang to hold her hand for comfort. Unsurprisingly, it was cold, almost frigid. The blonde almost recoiled, and instead held on tighter. The heiress accepted the gesture and squeezed her warm hand in reassurance.

"I'm…"

Ruby and Blake leaned in with curiosity.

"I'm not a pureblood," the heiress admitted and spoke sternly. "Wilhelmina told me I was born from a different father, so I'm not a pureblood," blue eyes met amber. "I'm an aristocrat like you."

As Blake processed her sister's words, Ruby chimed in.

"Does that mean your mom…?"

Weiss nodded. "Wasn't faithful."

From the revelation, Blake's cat ears flattened on her head. Understandably, it was clear Weiss was upset, if not frustrated with her mother for keeping this a secret. From Weiss' tone, Blake hoped she wouldn't hold a grudge against her. Hearing her say her mom's name was a little unsettling and spoke volumes of her feelings of betrayal more than she could ever portray.

This was a lot for Blake to take in. She had witnessed multiple times when her sister was almost murdered for her so called 'pureblood' power.

She couldn't imagine what Weiss was thinking. To have her whole past mean almost nothing.

Like part of her identity was a facade.

Amber orbs never broke contact with azure. Blake could tell her sister was crying on the inside, but for some reason didn't, or couldn't express it the utter betrayal she must feel. The blood-faunus couldn't bear to see the hurt in her sister's eyes, so she stood from the bed and walked over to her.

The aristocrat leaned down and wrapped her sister in a tight hug.

"Blake, what're-"

"It's okay," Blake reassured. "You're going to be okay."

Weiss wished she could believe those words. She really did.

Her hug, the safety and protectiveness, felt serene. And at the same time, felt like nothing.

To return the gesture, Weiss slowly slid her arms around Blake's back as she leaned into the embrace.

Her teammates reached out to her. To show her that they're there for her.

Yang was still holding her hand.

Blake was still hugging her.

And Ruby was rubbing soothing circles on her back with a concerned gaze.

Then why did Weiss feel so alone?

"I know," the heiress replied blandly. "Thank you, Blake."

Hesitantly, Blake separated and remained at eye-level with her sister. Again, she met her gaze. The blood-faunus knew it would take her sister a long time to heal, but seeing her like this…

It hit a pang in her heart.

It was like Weiss was too afraid to show emotion.

Or maybe she just couldn't.

Either way, it made Blake's stomach twist in a knot.

It made her heart ache.

It made her physically sick.

"Weiss," Blake searched her poker-faced expression. "I want you to know that pureblood or not, you're my sister."

Suddenly, Weiss' eyes became the size of dinner plates. Like Ruby's when she gets excited for cookies. There was an innocence full of purity and almost glimmered with longing.

That was the first time Blake said she was her _sister_. Since Weiss could remember, Blake told people she was Weiss' bodyguard and had no problem doing so. Not once did Blake introduce herself as Weiss' sister.

Even though Weiss always told Blake she was part of the Schnee family, there was an inkling of doubt that Blake fully believed that. Part of Weiss thought Blake didn't even admit to herself that she was her sister, so to hear this...

Weiss always noticed how uncomfortable Blake became when she told people they were sisters.

Now, Blake proudly announced it and meant every word.

Weiss didn't even notice a tear drop down her cheek until Blake gently wiped it away with her thumb.

"We went through a ton of crap because people thought you were a pureblood," Blake admitted. "That made us stronger."

For some reason, her previous comment caused Weiss to faintly chuckle. That small sound was quickly muffled as Weiss placed a hand over her mouth. Her lips were trembling too much to speak.

At last, she sensed light. It was dim, but it was there.

"It made _us_ stronger," Yang corrected as she squeezed her hand softly. "If people didn't think you were a pureblood, Blake wouldn't even be here right now! You two would've never met!"

Ruby added in. "You might not even be here! Team RWBY wouldn't be together. We'd just be team Rooey!"

From the enthusiastic and amusing comment, the three held back chuckles. As if to back them up, Zwei yipped once and nuzzled his snout against Weiss' leg.

"Thanks guys," Weiss said earnestly. "Thank you."

"Aw, Weissy!" Ruby beamed. "Always come to your teammates."

In response, Weiss nodded briefly. In relief, Yang gently pulled Weiss in for a hug. The heiress was stiff at first, and eventually relaxed in the embrace.

Not able to hold back, Blake joined the hug and wrapped her arms around her partner and sister. Unintentionally, Weiss' eye twitched in irritation. This hug was getting to be suffocating from the extra body heat.

"Group hug!"

Instantly, Ruby tackled her three teammates. Somehow, she wrapped her eager arms around all three of them.

Weiss wasn't used to being hugged by so many people at one time, so she forcefully broke out of the suffocating embrace.

"I can't handle this many people!"

Ruby, Blake and Yang stumbled off the bed; their lighthearted giggles filled the room.

The little corgi was just below the bed and stared up at Weiss. Teasingly, the heiress crossed her arms and gazed down at him.

"What?"

"Arf!"

Unable to resist, Weiss bent down to pet him on the head. Zwei vigorously wagged his stubby tail. He missed those signature cold hands.

Her three teammates watched the display in relief, happy that their friend was acting more like herself.

* * *

Around 3:00 A.M. that night, Weiss opened her eyes like clockwork.

Like she'd done a million times before, she slipped out of bed without a sound.

It stunned her that Zwei didn't even budge from the movement. She shook her head, considering herself lucky that she didn't wake the gentle dog.

After she grabbed the hidden backpack under her bunk bed, she swung it around her back.

Without sparing so much as a glance, Weiss carefully opened the door and twisted the knob slowly, making sure it wouldn't make a sound when it shut.

The moment the door closed, she untwisted the knob and scurried down the hall with a sense of urgency.

The room was masked in silence besides the occasional snore that disrupted the air.

A few seconds later, Yang's snoring suddenly stopped. The heavy silence overwhelmed the room as the blonde shot her eyes open.

"Is she gone?"

"Yeah," Blake replied from below her. The aristocrat was already out of bed.

"We have to hurry!" Ruby exclaimed as she swung her cape around her back. "Before she gets away!"

The three worried teammates met in the middle of the room. Even Zwei was alert as he stared in determination at the door. The little corgi's beady eyes narrowed at the door, his broad ears perked.

Blake stared at the sisters in the darkness and then her glimmering gaze landed on the concerned Zwei.

"Where the hell has she been going this late?" Blake asked the room.

Yang rushed over to the door and caused it to fly open.

"We're gonna find out."

* * *

 **The chapter title refers to Amalee's version of Let Me Hear:**

" **I'll be there hold on I'll save you somehow so 'where are you now?'"**

" **I'll reach you by dawn before you disappear the one thing I fear!" - them trying to reach her before dawn.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**

 **P.S. Check out my new fic: Time to Make History!**


	63. Pain Makes Us Human!

Ruby, Blake, and Yang bolted out the door, leaving Zwei behind. They didn't want to risk the little corgi getting caught by any students or Beacon's staff.

To their surprise, Weiss was already out of sight.

Until Blake barely, just barely, caught a glimpse of white hair protruding around the corner at the end of the hallway. Thanks to her enhanced faunus traits, she could see easily in the dimly light hall.

The aristocrat darted off with Ruby and Yang following.

It was dead silent in the middle of the night, so when they heard the shut of a door, they knew Weiss was near.

Ruby took the lead and used her semblance to get ahead. Her red petals scattered behind her in a trail on the dark carpet. It didn't take long for the three to realize the door that shut was the ladies' public restroom.

The teammates stood outside without a word. After a nod of encouragement from Ruby, Yang slowly opened the door. They walked in and noticed the stalls weren't closed. No one was in the bathroom.

"Where the hell did she go?" Yang asked, baffled that Weiss somehow disappeared.

Blake narrowed her eyes in frustration. "Maybe she didn't go in here."

"She was here," Ruby smirked and pointed to a slightly opened window. "See?"

Yang walked over to the window and scanned Beacon's courtyard, only to find no one in sight.

"Dammit," the blonde cursed. "She got away!"

"I'll be back," Blake stated.

Before the sisters could reply, she disappeared into thin air, leaving a thin black cloud in her wake. This earned a gasp from Yang and Ruby as they jumped back.

"Jeez," the blonde muttered. "I forgot she can teleport."

Ruby nodded as she stared at the puff of black. "Me too."

"Arf!"

"Gah!" Ruby yelped and saw the familiar giddy ball of fur wagging his tail. "Zwei, why're you here?"

Blake popped out of the mini black cloud. "We need him."

"Right!" Yang exclaimed. "I see what you're trying to do."

The blood-faunus knelt to lift the small corgi. She heaved him under her arms like a football as Ruby pulled down the window.

With ease, Blake glided outside and landed safely on the grass. She made sure the dog wouldn't be hurt by tucking him protectively into her chest. The sisters followed as Blake set Zwei carefully on the ground.

"I guess cats always land on their feet," Yang chirped.

Blake's cat ear twitched from the joke. "It was an easy jump. Don't give me that."

"Come on, Zwei," Ruby encouraged. "Do your thing and find Weiss!"

Zwei yipped and eagerly sniffed the grass and various bushes. After he pranced around for a few moments, he barked to alert his companions.

"Did you find her trail?" Yang asked.

To answer, Zwei crouched lowly with his tail in the air. His beady eyes stared at the three, a smug grin present.

"God dammit," the blonde face palmed. "Zwei! You can take a shit any other time! We need to find Weiss!"

When Zwei finished his business, he took his sweet time and kicked up the grass behind him as his smug grin never faded.

"Stupid dog…" Blake muttered.

"Arf!"

"I'm not picking that up," the blood-faunus stated and glanced at the sisters. "He's your dog, not mine."

Ruby tugged her hair in frustration. "We don't have time for this! We can pick it up later," she knelt to get at eye-level with Zwei. "You need find Weiss' scent, okay? You know it better than anyone. You're the one that sleeps with her."

While Ruby gave him a pep-talk, the corgi's head tilted sideways as if he weighed her words. His dark gray eyes narrowed in understanding and he yipped. The three stood there and watched the corgi sniff around, until finally, he barked and glared in the distance.

For a moment, they thought he'd squat again, but before they could say anything, Zwei bolted into the forest. The three sprinted behind him, surprised he was so fast for having such stubby legs. They ran in silence, intent to find Weiss as soon as possible as a million questions swarmed their minds.

After a few minutes without breaking stride, the three noticed Zwei began to slow to a trot.

"Are we close?" Ruby asked.

A soft bark.

The teammates took that as their cue to exit the tree line. When they emerged, a building consisted of concrete was in view. It was large. About half size of a football field. It was visibly run down, indicating the building was abandoned.

"What the…" Yang mumbled and glanced down at her dog. "You're saying Weiss is in there? Why would she be here? At this hour?"

"Wait a second…" Blake focused her vision and saw the familiar red trademark on the side of the building. The red paint was faded, but she could tell what the image was. "It's a White Fang hideout. That's their symbol."

"What?!" Ruby yelped, which caused Blake to hastily cover her mouth.

"Quiet, we don't know who's here," the aristocrat reasoned.

"Is it really a hideout?" Ruby asked. She squinted in the darkness. Only the moon's rays aided her sight. "Yang's right, why would she be in there?"

Blake bit her lip. "Your guess is as good as mine."

She didn't like this.

She didn't like this at all.

Her sister had been disappearing at night for several weeks now. What baffled Blake the most was the location.

Weiss didn't have a motive to work with the White Fang, did she? Blake doubted it, but she didn't want to wait for answers any longer.

Yang noticed there were no guards standing at the front of the building. "Zwei, is she really in there?"

After a sharp inhale, the small corgi gave another bark, but more strongly, showing her there was no doubt present.

"Alright," Ruby said. "Let's go-"

Before they could take a mere step toward the hideout, it was enshrouded in a menacing white light was so bright that it almost blinded the group as they stepped back and shielded their eyes.

If vision could be sucker punched, this was it.

"Gah!" Blake yelped. "What the…"

It took a few agonizing seconds for them to open their eyes, for fear they'd be blinded again. When they did, they were greeted by a daunting sight. The moon's harsh rays allowed them to see in the darkness. The area was a haunting white. The entire building was a frigid and encased in ice. Deadly ice shards protruded at all angles of the icy fortress.

"It's frozen!?" Yang exclaimed in disbelief. "Did Weiss do that?!"

"Our Weiss?" Ruby questioned. "What's happening?"

Not only was the building frozen solid, but so was the surrounding area. It was like if the group advanced so much as a step, they'd be turned to ice sculptures.

Hesitantly, Blake removed her foot from the grass and stepped on the ice a few centimeters in front of her. Amber eyes widened in disbelief as she gulped. Unintentionally, her body was trembling, but not from the cold.

A figure shrouded in black emerged from the hideout. The group stared at the haunting scene as the black mass slowly drifted away from the front door.

"Oh no…" Blake murmured. "This- this isn't good."

"What's wrong, Blake?" Yang asked. "Is that Weiss?"

The black speck was levitating. A grimm mask was on display. A red and black baseball cap skewed hair.

"I-I'm not sure," Blake didn't want to believe it.

No way was her sister the one annihilating White Fang hideouts alone.

The group watched the tiny, floating black mass violently erupted into a blizzard. The air shook and whirled around the figure. Some ice strayed in the mini tornado as the figure inside was unnaturally still and remained calmly floating in the air. The teammates recoiled from the rough gusts of wind that rushed and encircled the figure.

Yang hastily lifted Zwei in case he got sucked in. Those two can handle the cold just fine. Yang was a portable heater and Zwei adorned fur.

The violent blizzard knocked off the figure's baseball cap, revealing a white waterfall that cascaded down the person's back. A stark contrast from the jet-black clothes. The grimm mask's eye holes were glowing an ominous red and pierced the darkness.

"Oh my god…" Ruby murmured. "It's…"

That's when it hit them.

All the news reports.

The deaths.

The assailant's nickname.

"Weiss is the Shadow with Red Eyes?!" Yang yelped. "What?! Why? Why would she…"

A bead of sweat rolled down Blake's cheek and it warped to ice. The harsh wind burned her skin as she stood in utter shock.

 _This power,_ Blake thought. _Her red eyes. It can't be._

Blake had been by Weiss' side all these years. With her help, she saved Weiss from depression because of what she was raised to believe. Blake saved her from loneliness, from completely hating herself, and was her beacon of hope to push through all the pressures placed upon her.

To live even though most people wanted her and her family dead.

There was only one time Blake had witnessed when a vampire lost control of themselves.

Of their emotions.

Of their mind.

She'd only witnessed it oncebefore.

With her as the victim when she fell prey to hatred.

To despair.

This state was extremely rare and required trauma and stress beyond all comprehension to even activate.

This state released both aura and zehn in a pure…

Unbridled…

Rage.

"Blake!" Ruby yelped. "What's happening?! How's she doing that?!"

"She's gone berserker," Blake whispered in disbelief. "Everything that's happened… She felt like she had to deal with it alone, and now-!"

"Berserker?" Yang was intrigued by the word. "Does that mean she's lost control?"

The dark figure slowly circled around to face the group, staring them down several feet away. They gasped when they realized how bright and full of hatred those blood-red eyes contained.

"She's not herself," Blake informed, desperation in her voice. "She doesn't know what's going on. All she sees is red."

Yang gulped as she stared at the sight. For the first time in her life, she was intimidated by Weiss.

"How do you know that?" Ruby was almost too scared to ask.

"Because it happened to me once," Blake revealed.

She didn't say more on the subject. The time she went berserker was when she killed her biological parents' murderers, so she knew more than anyone how dangerous the situation was.

Seeing her like this made her sick.

Weiss wasn't supposed to be like this…

Blake hated to admit it, but right now, Weiss was a monster.

The monster Blake unleashed all those years ago.

As Weiss slowly drifted to them in her haze, Blake took a brave step forward, pulling out Gambol Shroud.

Zwei stood tall, his ears perked up and alert as he worriedly gazed at the enshrouded black and slight glimmer of white. He joined Blake's side as he took a defensive stance and crouched to the glazed over icy ground.

"What're you doing?!" Ruby yelped. "You can't fight her! Not when she's like this!"

The urgency in Ruby's tone set Blake's nerves on edge, but she knew better than anyone. There was no way any of them would get out alive if she didn't stop her sister.

Even if it meant by force.

Blake looked over her shoulders at the sisters with a warning. "Stay back," she glanced to Zwei, who nodded.

The aristocrat and Zwei bolted directly at the looming threat side-by-side.

Blake chose to ignore their pleas as she poised her katana. As the two neared, the wind got stronger and shards pierced their skin. Despite the cuts, the two kept going.

"Weiss!" Blake yelped. "Snap out of it!"

She doubted her sister could hear her pleas over the violent wind, but she had to try.

The closer they got, the harder it was to move. Blake and Zwei ended up trudging, bravely taking on the ice storm. Dog paws and boots embedded the ice with each tiny , the corgi managed to keep his tiny paws glued to the slippery ground.

The closer Blake got, the more she realized how gone her sister was.

Weiss' own power was against her, truly showing she had absolutely no control. Her skin was cut in several different places, her wounds were fresh and leaked blood.

Blake didn't even know if she _could_ save Weiss.

Before Blake and Zwei could get any closer, Weiss lifted her arms and hurled dense ice balls at the frigid sphere was about the dog's size, so when multiple dense ice balls hit Zwei, he flew back with a yelp.

Yang saw her precious dog soar backwards and activated her gauntlets to reach him. "Zwei!"

He flew so far back that he almost slammed into a tree. Luckily, Yang was able to catch him before that could happen.

It was like receiving a flaming baseball pitch.

Worriedly, Yang checked him over. Her poor dog adorned several cuts. Due to the impact, he would also be badly bruised. However, there didn't seem to be any internal damage thanks to his aura.

She gently coaxed him to the grass, murmuring words of comfort. Zwei was breathing steadily as Yang lovingly rubbed his fur.

Not soon after, Blake was hit by several sharp shards. A particularly violent gust of wind picked her off her feet. She flew back like a ragdoll and was about to slam into the harsh ice ground, but was greeted with a pair of supportive arms.

The two-sprawled back from the extra momentum, hitting the ice hardly.

Ruby acted as a cushion and was crushed under the extra weight as the wind was knocked out of her.

After Ruby gained her bearings, she sat up with Blake in her arms. "B-Blake! Are you okay?"

When Blake's fuzzy vision came into focus, she realized her savior was Ruby.

"Ruby… I'm okay. Thank you."

Ruby let out a withered sigh. "Thank god…" she glimpsed at Weiss and silver eyes narrowed in determination.

"I guess cats don't always land on their feet," Yang couldn't help but joke.

"Now's not the time!" Ruby yelped.

Yang chuckled to herself. She knew it was a serious situation, but she couldn't help it. If she could brighten up the atmosphere even a little, she would.

"Right, sorry," the blonde gazed back at Weiss, still in disbelief of the pure hatred her teammate emitted.

The fact that Weiss hurt two of her precious friends and Zwei…

Blake was right, she was gone.

For a second, Weiss' blood-red eyes slightly faded. In response, the wind died down a bit as she managed to rasp. "Stay away," she choked out. "G-get away from me!" tears cascaded down her cheeks as she pleaded to her team.

"And leave you?!" Yang shouted. "Like hell!"

Blake was just shocked her sister managed to speak.

Maybe there was hope.

Except the heiress was quickly engulfed in a blind rage again as her blood-red eyes clouded over. The grimm mask that covered half her face only added to her daunting appearance.

How could Blake let her get this bad?!

How could she not see the signs sooner?!

How could she let her sister fall into despair…?

All by herself?

Weiss probably felt extreme loneliness up until now.

Blake and Weiss had cursed themselves for not being able to prevent Winter's death.

Then Weiss found out she wasn't even a pureblood.

Feeling like her mother betrayed her.

Feeling like she was a disgrace to Winter. To her race.

But most of all, the disgrace of being a vampire.

All Blake and Weiss wanted to do was to blend in a normal society.

As the year went by, they realized that feat was more difficult than they thought it'd be.

All they ever wanted was to peacefully coexist with humans.

To be with humans in harmony.

To _be_ human.

It was then that Blake realized something.

There was pressure in her side.

Ruby was using her cape to staunch Blake's seeping wounds. Ruby paid the cold no heed and reacted to help her teammate in any way possible.

Yang kissed Zwei's cuts.

Ruby grimaced from the hard hit her head took from catching Blake.

Cat ears flicked in recognition as Blake saw the wounds Weiss bore because of her rampage.

"Weiss!" Blake screamed. "Don't you see?!"

The blizzard slightly faded, which compelled Blake to continue.

" **Pain makes us human**!"

It made them more than human.

Weiss' lips slightly parted as a tear dripped down her cheek, but the storm only resumed its fury.

Yang took that as her cue when she noticed Weiss was distracted from her sister's words.

 _Come on, princess,_ Yang smirked. _You're smarter than us. Who do you think is gonna win? Fire… or ice?!_

Like she's done a million times, Yang pounded her fists together, allowing herself to be engulfed by a controlled blazing flame.

She could hear her sister and partner's screams of her name as she glided directly at Weiss.

But she didn't care.

She hadto save her!

There was no way in hell she'd let anyone stop her.

Not even Weiss herself.

In a ball of light, she soared at Weiss through the violent blizzard and melted all the deadly ice shards.

When she reached her teammate...

Everything went still.

* * *

 **The chapter title is a reference to one of the main songs LMH is based on: X.U.**

" **The fallen angels arrive (Weiss), let them know that it's the 'pain that makes us so human' after all."**

 **Again, if you didn't listen to the songs this story is based on (links are on the first chapter) then you won't understand how this all connects. It's interesting, so give them a listen.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	64. Glimmer of Hope

Dead silence.

The violent wind had seized, leaving the ice-covered area still. Only the shattered moon's rays allowed the group to see in the middle of the night.

Yang didn't know exactly what she was thinking when she soared at Weiss, but she did the one thing she'd been dying to do for a long time.

She wrapped her arms around her neck.

And kissed her.

She didn't think it would work, but she took the silence as a good sign.

Weiss gently floated to the ground and Yang didn't let go for fear if she did, she'd lose her again.

Yang savored the soft contact, but noticed Weiss was just… taking it, and was unnaturally still.

Their feet finally touched the ground, causing a crunch sound from the impact on the ice. Yang gently separated as she stared into her eyes that were blood-red and wide open. Those orbs flickered between red and blue.

With that as her cue, the blonde took off the grimm mask and tossed it aside, softly rubbing her thumb to wipe away any tears on Weiss' cheeks.

"You look so much better without that thing on your face," Yang murmured sweetly.

"Yang!" Blake cried from behind the duo. "Get away from her! She's not stable!"

The blonde ignored her partner's pleas and remained fixated on Weiss, who was silent. There was something different about her and Yang figured it was nothing to worry about.

Blood-red eyes gradually shifted back to natural azure.

Seeing Yang filled her with recognition, but the surroundings were foreign.

"Yang…"

"Hey, Weiss," Yang said softly like she was talking to a baby animal. "Do you know what's going on? Are you okay?"

Weiss' lips slightly parted and trembled. Somehow, she was unable to speak. She could only manage a withered sigh. Hazy eyes flickered around the area before fluttering shut. Easily, Yang lurched forward, catching her teammate before she collapsed on the frozen ground.

Ruby and Blake gasped when they watched their teammate fall. In response, the two slid over to the pair, with Zwei scampering directly behind.

With concern overflowing her being, Yang gently laid her on the icy ground, flaring her aura to warm the area. Her own tears dripped down her cheeks when she realized how weak of a state Weiss was in.

Her body was covered in cuts from the shards, her dark clothing marred and tattered. Both her aura and zehn failed to heal her, and her muscles didn't even have the energy to contort in pain. Dark splotches coated the dark clothing that were a thick red liquid.

She'd never looked so helpless.

Yang swallowed to clear the knot in her throat.

"She lost too much aura and zehn!" Yang exclaimed in exasperation.

To make sure she was even alive, Yang pressed a finger to Weiss' neck and noticed her pulse was dwindling.

Blake knelt and worryingly checked her sister over. "Yang, I'd hate to ask you this, but can you use aura transfer?"

It was a desperate request. Blake felt guilty for asking her, but it was necessary. I was well-known the blonde would do anything to help her teammate. Even strain her own body.

"Of course," Yang stated. Instantly, she hovered her hands over the heiress' torso and a faint yellow glow emitted.

 _She needs blood,_ the aristocrat glanced at Ruby. _No, I won't. There's no way I could ask Ruby to-_

As if Ruby read Blake's mind, the leader grabbed her sharp scythe and held the blade against her wrist.

Blake firmly grabbed her arm. "Don't."

Ruby heard the desperation in her tone, but paid it no mind. "Blake, I don't know how to use aura transfer. I need to do something. Let me do this."

The request was more of a plea. Blake cursed herself. She would give Weiss her own blood, but that was viewed as the ultimate taboo. A vampire drinking another vampire's blood was considered cannibalism.

Biting her lip, Blake lowered her head in defeat. "Don't cut deep, okay?"

Ruby nodded and without hesitation, grazed the surface of her wrist with her sharp scythe. While she did that, Blake aided her partner with aura transfer. To help, Zwei laid next to the heiress, slightly whimpering and he placed his gentle paw in her frigid, limp hand.

Both of Weiss' aura and zehn were completely depleted, leaving her extremely vulnerable. Her team worked hard for several arduous minutes.

Yang and Blake removed their hands from her body and started to breathe harshly as beads of sweat rolled down their foreheads.

While those two focused on the downed girl's aura, their leader gave her some blood that dripped down her wrist. Ruby hovered it over the girl's mouth that was slightly open. Ruby didn't think it would help much, but her partner's face looked far less pale than a few minutes ago. Little did Ruby know, her vital blood helped immensely and Weiss' zehn was replenished.

When Blake caught her breath, she deemed her sister was in a safe zone again.

Majority of the cuts were sealed over her pale skin. The only evidence she was hurt was the shredded black clothing.

"Will…" Yang panted. "Will she be okay?"

"Yes…" Blake mumbled. "Physically at least."

"Thank god…" Yang murmured in relief.

The blonde moved to carry Weiss, but she fell back on her knees from the extra weight. Normally, Yang only needed one hand to lift her teammate, but now she felt like an elephant was in her arms. She'd used more aura from the transfer than she originally thought.

"Give her to me," Ruby offered. She knew how taxing the process was on a person's aura.

Yang was hesitant, but ultimately knew she couldn't carry Weiss in her state. Carefully, she coaxed her to her capable arms.

With Weiss secured, Ruby stood from the with controlled slowness. The last thing she wanted was to cause her partner more pain, but Weiss' face remained peaceful, so she took that as a good sign. It was like holding an icicle, so Ruby untied her red cape and wrapped it around Weiss to insulate as much warmth as possible.

Yang had trouble finding her footing, but eventually stood properly. She reached out her hand to help her partner stand. The blood-faunus accepted the gesture, and she also felt a nudge of encouragement from behind.

Zwei head-butted her back repeatedly in an attempt to help her stand.

With their help, Blake found her footing, although a bit wobbly.

"We need to get back soon," Ruby stated. "The sun is rising."

The sun barely peaked over the horizon, causing the vast ice to shimmer from different rays. It was a school day, so if they didn't want to get caught, they'd have to hurry. Especially since the little corgi tagged along.

"Right," the blonde agreed. "Let's get going."

Ruby took the lead, careful not to jostle her partner in her arms. Yang slung her arm around Blake's shoulder since she had trouble walking. To support her, Blake wrapped an arm around her waist.

The small dog walked in the middle of the four, his ears perked up and alert for any nearby grimm.

His enhanced senses weren't needed, as it was a peaceful walk back.

* * *

The whole team crashed the moment they entered their room. Classes could wait, right now they were exhausted. Besides, the last thing they wanted to do was leave Weiss alone while they attended classes, so they opted to skip as a team.

Before heading to bed, Blake took extra care in changing Weiss into her nightgown. She couldn't stand seeing her in the black tattered clothing, which served as a reminder of what happened.

Each member was in their own bed, but Yang refused to leave Weiss alone. Even if she was in her own bunk.

Seeing her teammate, someone she also adored so dearly, in her previous state ripped her heart in half. The image of Weiss bloodied and motionless on the ice was engraved in her mind, making Yang unable to sleep.

Currently, the blonde was huddled in Weiss' bed, pulling the girl close. More to comfort herself as Weiss slept.

As usual, Zwei slept near their feet; his furry body provided extra warmth.

The pair cuddled for a few hours. Just as Yang was about to drift off, there was a small groan from the girl. Lilac eyes shot open and watched her furrow her eyes, but her face went still. In response, Yang sat up and leaned down.

"Come on..." Yang encouraged.

"Murderer…" she heard Weiss mumble.

Before Yang could even react, tears slipped from Weiss' closed eyes.

Naturally, Yang didn't want Weiss to be trapped in a nightmare. More than likely one that was born from reality. After finding out Weiss was the one invading White Fang hideouts, Yang gathered the dream was possibly about that.

"Hey," Yang whispered sharply. "Wake up."

This ruckus caused Ruby and Blake to stir. Each woke with confusion.

"Yang," Blake called and leapt out of bed. "What's wrong?"

Before her partner could reply, Weiss' eyes shot open and she gasped.

"Hey, calm down," the blonde soothed. "You're okay."

In silence, Weiss stared at her teammates. All three adorned concerned gazes. This caused her heartbeat to run rapidly. There were lots of questions running amuck.

She was confused as to why Yang was in her bed, but she didn't mind her presence. Not at all. Her cheeks were wet, and she quickly realized why. Unable to stop, more rivulets cascaded down her cheeks as she covered her mouth.

"What's wrong?" Ruby asked. "Are you hurting?"

The three teammates sat on the bed to comfort the girl, who managed to choke out. "Yang is right…"

The three glimpsed at each other. Confused "Huh's?" rang out.

"I'm a-" Weiss took a shaky breath. "I'm a murderer."

"What?" Yang asked. "You're not-"

"No," the vampire cut her off. "You all know," she guiltily admitted and dipped her head, allowing her hair to cover her face. "I'm the Shadow with Red Eyes. I'm the one that's been killing innocent people. Don't act like I deserve sympathy," she finished bitterly.

Her teammates could only stare. Ruby was the only one who had the courage to speak up.

"You have a determined drive, Weiss. You wouldn't do something like that without a good reason."

Instead of being angry, Weiss was frustrated. At herself for doing those things, and at her team for not lecturing her.

"I was looking for Cinder," the heiress revealed. "Since she- she-" Weiss couldn't even say that Cinder killed Winter. Instead, she shook her head. "No, nothing excuses my actions. Nothing."

The three knew that losing Winter was difficult, but they never thought Weiss would personally go alone to find information regarding Cinder's location.

"You went berserker," Blake informed evenly.

From that, azure eyes widened.

Blake nodded to ease any doubts. "You lost control of yourself. It rarely happens to vampires, but it's possible under extreme circumstances."

"That doesn't change the fact that I'm a murderer…" Weiss murmured.

The people she froze solid were carved in her mind. The haunting chiming of the alarms was something she'd never forget. She didn't remember much about unleashing her power, but she knew she harmed people before she lost control.

Taking the silence as permission to speak, Blake took a deep breath. "I need to tell you something."

Azure pools fixed on Blake. The last time someone needed to tell her something, her whole life was turned upside down and shattered. A deep sinking feeling swelled in her stomach as she gazed into those concerned amber eyes.

"What is it?" Weiss asked, clearly hesitant.

Blake was deeply troubled, carefully sorting her thoughts.

"It's about something almost no one knows," Blake revealed. "Winter didn't know, Mom doesn't know, you don't know. Only Dad knows.

That caught the team's attention.

"Blake," the heiress began. "You don't have to tell me if you-"

"I want to," the aristocrat stated firmly. "You need to know. You all need to know. I'm tired of hiding it."

Ruby gripped her hand. "When you're ready."

This was it.

The cause of all her nightmares.

"It's about the night my parents were murdered," the blood-faunus said bluntly as she faced her leader. "I'm sorry for lying to you, but at the time, I couldn't tell you the truth."

"Huh?" Ruby asked.

She remembered Blake saying that her parents died and that their killers got away. After that, Ruby told her she wanted to help find the culprits and bring them to justice.

"The story was that my parents' murderers got away," she faced the three. "Right?"

"Yes," Weiss confirmed. "That's what happened, right?"

"No," Blake replied without hesitation. "The two who killed my parents never got away... I made sure of that."

Dead silence.

It took a moment for Weiss to connect the puzzle pieces. "Are you saying that you killed your parents' murderers?"

Blake's eyes were burning, stinging. An unmistakable sadness and regret tinged her tone as her cat ears leaned back on her head.

"Yes."

Another stretch of silence.

All these years, Blake had been carrying an unbearable weight on her shoulders. Looking at her now, that weight had obviously taken a toll as her fingers curled into the blankets, seeking some sort of hiding place. Some feeling of concealment.

The reveal made Weiss feel extremely guilty for not being there for her. She had absolutely no idea. Her sister was a master of the facade, even more so than herself.

"That night was the first and only time I've ever gone berserker," Blake explained. "I lost my sense of self. I didn't know what I was doing, and before I knew it, there were two more bodies on the floor."

Instead of being terrified of what her teammates would think, Blake felt the burden lift off her shoulders. After bearing a secret like that for that long, it made her feel much better after telling her team. She sighed in relief as she felt the grip of Ruby's hand tighten around her own.

To Ruby, everything made sense. Why Blake had so many nightmares. Why she avoided talking about her biological parents. Why she retreated into herself whenever parents were mentioned.

After seeing Weiss in that state, Ruby and Yang somewhat understood what it meant to go 'berserker.' It was frightening to witness and they hoped it'd never happen again. It was that moment they promised themselves that they'd never let their teammates go through that again, especially since it also hurt the person who lost control.

"Please… don't blame yourself," Blake pleaded as she gazed at her concerned sister. "After hiding my secret for so long, I realized it's better to confide in someone, which is what I'm doing now."

Now was as good as any time to tell her. The last thing Blake wanted was Weiss to feel the regret and despair she felt for all these years. If she could spare her even a fraction of that pain, she would.

With tenderness, Ruby, Yang, and Weiss pulled Blake in for a group hug.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that, Blake," the heiress murmured. "I can't imagine how you felt hiding it all this time."

"It-" Blake had to stop herself, for fear she would sob. When she pulled herself together, she spoke. "It was _so_ hard," her voice wavered and was cracked with misery. "Dad saw what happened. He knew what I did. He witnessed it."

As Blake cried, her teammates held her.

"That's why I went with him," Blake revealed. "I wanted to repent my sins, so I followed him and agreed to become your bodyguard."

"I'm glad," Weiss stated, which caused a cat ear to flicker.

The blood-faunus was clearly skeptical that Weiss said such a thing.

"Think about it," the heiress leaned back to gaze into her confused eyes. "If that didn't happen, we wouldn't be sisters. We wouldn't even be here at Beacon with the brute, dolt, and adorable dog."

Zwei yipped once from the comment. Ruby and Yang smiled as they watched the sisters lock in a heartwarming hug.

"You're right," Blake admitted. "All I'm asking is that you forgive yourself. I know that won't happen anytime soon, but please… try to find happiness."

After finding out what her sister had been through, Weiss knew it wouldn't be impossible. It certainly wouldn't happen soon, but maybe, just maybe, she could forgive herself. It would be difficult, especially after she recalled all the frozen people she was responsible for.

She couldn't recall the screams just before. Only the silence that followed.

"I'll try, the heiress replied. "I promise. If you went through that after all these years in solitude, then… it might not be impossible."

Blake separated from the hug and gazed into her eyes, so glad to see some hope spark in those pools of blue.

"That's all I ask."

A pair of smiles.

Yang casted a concerned gaze at Weiss. "Are you feelin' a little better?"

"Yes, thanks to you three," Weiss reassured.

Yang sighed in relief. "I'm glad."

"By the way…" Weiss trailed off.

"Yeah?"

"Did our first kiss really have to be like that?" the heiress asked in feign disappointment, her cheeks flushed. "I couldn't even move properly, much less return it."

Yang perked an amused eyebrow. "Are you saying I'm a bad kisser?"

"No, I'm just saying it was bad timing."

"I'll keep that in mind," Yang leaned in and lowered her tone seductively. "There's always next time..."

Weiss was left speechless.

Ruby scrunched her nose in disgust. "Eeeeeew! Yang, quit it!"

"I wasn't talkin' to you!"

"No duh, that'd be weird!"

As the sisters teasingly bickered, Blake couldn't help but let slip a faint giggle.

* * *

 **The chapter title is a reference to one of the main songs: X.U.**

" **It's a world of chaos, 'but don't lose hope.'"**

 **Aaaaand they reached her before dawn arrived, another reference to the lyrics:**

" **I'll reach you by dawn."**

 **Yay, it all connects!**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	65. Screw Fate!

The night before left team RWBY exhausted. Stopping Weiss while she was in berserker mode took a lot out of them, so they skipped their morning classes. However, they decided to go to their afternoon lecture with professor Port, which shouldn't be too strenuous.

The morning class they skipped was combat class and there was no way in hell they were in shape to exert themselves that morning. Ruby knew Ms. Goodwitch wouldn't be happy that an entire team skipped, so she quickly typed an excuse with the help of her team and hoped the professor would accept it.

They slept all morning after their personal talk as a team. Blake slept better than any of them. After sharing the secret that had weighed her down for years, she felt immense relief. After some much-needed rest, the team felt beyond refreshed.

Currently, the team was walking to Port's classroom.

Yang stretched her arms above her head before slinging an arm around Weiss' shoulders. "How'd you guys sleep?"

The action was something Weiss wasn't opposed to, in fact, she welcomed it and kept walking with a faint smile present. "I feel much better."

Blake cracked a small smile. "I haven't felt this energized in ages."

"I bet," Ruby chirped. "Revealing your secret took a lot of guts. I'm happy you can trust us with that sort of thing."

"Me too, Ruby," Blake agreed. "Me too."

Blake never thought there'd be a day when she told _anyone_ that she killed her parents' murderers, but to admit it to her entire team…

It's like she became a different person as the year went by.

A person she could finally be proud of.

The team walked into the lecture hall and took their seats. As usual, the vampire sisters casually took out their blood tablet water and began to sip on the drinks like it was regular water.

Yang set a hand under her chin as she glared at the blacked-out bottles. "I'll never understand how you guys like that stuff."

Blake simply shrugged. "Different taste buds."

"Don't give us that," Weiss chided. "Ruby has tried it, but you haven't."

"Rubes said it was awful!" Yang exclaimed.

Ruby cringed from the memory and almost gagged when she could practically taste the artificial blood again. Definitely an acquired taste.

With a wry smirk, Weiss held out her bottle. "You never know until you try. Besides, you're the one who thought it was wine."

"Oh yeah," Yang recalled. "I thought you were casually getting drunk during class," she finished with a snicker.

"Do you want some or not?" Weiss offered.

To be honest, Yang was more curious than anything. That drink was supposed to satisfy their vampire urges and contained fake blood. It didn't sound too enticing, but curiosity was always her most prominent trait.

Blake and Ruby kept waving their hands to warn her not to, but Yang paid them no heed and grabbed the bottle. She hesitantly tilted it to her lips and sipped on the liquid a few times. It didn't take her tastebuds long to reject the drink as she spat it out on the table.

Weiss recoiled from the stream. "Don't spray it on me!"

Yang coughed a few times and pounded her chest for emphasis. "Oh. Oh god… that was awful!"

Ruby chimed. "I think I handled it better than you did."

"No duh," Blake deadpanned. "You tried it when we weren't even looking."

"Ehehehe," Ruby sheepishly giggled. "My bad?"

The heiress grabbed her bottle and set it in her lap to keep it away from the rambunctious blonde. "I guess you didn't like it?"

Yang gave her a look.

"And that's a yes," Weiss said. "Good."

"'Good?'" Yang quoted. "What do you mean good?"

Before Weiss could explain, professor Port walked in front of the class and his voice boomed. "Hello, students! Who's ready for another tale of bravery!?"

Collective groans sounded from the audience.

"That's what I like to hear!" the man exclaimed, not using any social skills whatsoever to realize the groans were of boredom. "There I was... in the middle of the night…"

Yang lowered her head in defeat. "Kill me now."

"Maybe later," the heiress sassily replied.

"Gee, thanks," Yang said, sarcasm evident.

"Why'd we come here again?" Ruby asked her team in a low whisper. "I mean, I know education is important and yadayadayada, but I'm still kinda tired."

Blake teased as she gently nudged her leader's side. "We can't ditch all of our classes as a team. Headmaster Ozpin would get suspicious."

Suddenly, professor Port was cut off by the intercom when it made a dinging noise.

"Attention students," what sounded like Ozpin announced.

"Speak of the devil," the blonde mumbled.

Ozpin continued. "It has come to my attention that there has been _another_ incident in the courtyard last night."

Ruby, Blake, and Yang's eyes widened when they remembered what Zwei did last night.

"It is extremely inappropriate to defecate in the courtyard," Ozpin said levelly.

That earned many snickers throughout the academy, even Port couldn't stifle his chuckles.

"Crap!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Literally," Yang laughed from the unintentional pun.

Ruby gasped. "We forgot to pick it up!"

"Pick what up?" Weiss asked.

"When we tried to follow you last night, instead of sniffing out your trail, Zwei kinda… did his business," Yang informed.

"What!?"

Blake almost face palmed. "We didn't have time to goof around and said we'd pick it up later, but we forgot."

Yang slyly smirked. "Looks like Ozpin found it again," she nudged Weiss. "Just be thankful that this time wasn't your fault."

"Who do you think this mystery shitter is?" they heard Nora loudly ask her team.

"Let me make myself clear," Ozpin continued, his voice booming throughout the academy. "I am perfectly aware that this student obviously has trouble staying sober."

Blake was sipping on her blood tablet water when she heard that and did a spit take.

"A drunk student?" Ruby asked in disbelief. "He thinks it was a drunk student?"

Now Ozpin sounded irritated. "I'm hunting you down. When I find you, there will be an intervention because you need to know people care."

Team RWBY could only sit there in disbelief, their eyes widened as they contemplated his words. The rest of the school stopped giggling and listened to the remainder of the announcement.

Ozpin then sounded emotional and sad. "Remember, people are there for you and want you to get better."

The intercom turned off, leaving the students to sit there in silence.

Yang beamed a grin, amusement in her tone. "I feel oddly accomplished right now."

Weiss playfully shoved her shoulder, a scowl present. "Poor Zwei. We need to be more careful from now on."

Blake nodded. "Yeah."

* * *

Later that night, Weiss wanted to talk with Yang. Of course, they ruled out going to the Emerald Forest, or any forest. Whenever those two were alone in the wilderness nothing good came out of it.

They were still tired from the night before, so they agreed they didn't want to venture far.

Which brings them to the roof of Beacon Academy.

It was a bit chilly, so Weiss wore white gloves and a long white scarf on top of her combat outfit. The only thing Yang had to keep her warm was her orange-red scarf and combat outfit, which was more than enough for her.

The moon's rays gently settled on them, creating a silhouette-like appearance. The two were sitting next to each other on the edge of the roof, their legs dangling as they leaned back and gazed at the stars.

"Yang," Weiss called.

"Yeeeeeeeeees?" Yang asked in a chipper tune. She was just happy to get some alone time with her.

"I-" Weiss took a deep breath.

Yang could tell she was trying to say something that was on her mind for a long time, so she listened intently and leaned in. Lilac eyes fixated on her face. Yang was so entranced by her beauty. Her white hair illuminated under the moonlight. Azure eyes practically sparkled. Lilac was almost swimming in them.

"I know we got off on the wrong foot," the heiress recalled. "When we first met, we couldn't stop arguing."

Yang chuckled in amusement. "We sometimes still do."

"Yes, but it's different now," Weiss reasoned. "We can count on each other now and they're more petty arguments."

"True," Yang agreed. "Where are you going with this?"

The blonde had an idea, but she still felt like this was a dream. If this was going where she thought it was, she should pinch herself.

For once, Weiss made the first move and placed a hand on top of Yang's.

"For the longest time, I've admired you," Weiss revealed.

Yang was taken aback from the statement. For one thing, Yang had always admired Weiss. It baffled Yang that someone as flawless as Weiss admired her.

Weiss continued in a genuine tone. "After all we've been through, you're always there for me. Even when you found out I'm a vampire, that didn't change your opinion of me," her voice wavered in pure happiness. "That meant a lot to me. More than you'll ever know."

Yang searched her earnest gaze and smiled. "Of course, that's what teammates are for."

"That's the problem," Weiss pointed out. "I want, no, _need_ to be more than teammates," her face flushed, it was visible even in the darkness. "To be more than friends… with you…"

Weiss didn't care what her mom would think.

What her dad would think.

Her father would find out she's not a pureblood sooner or later.

Now that she knows she can't carry on the pureblood line, there was nothing holding her back.

There was nothing keeping her from confessing to Yang.

Not even her facade of a fate.

Yang's jaw almost dropped. She'd never seen Weiss so nervous before. The more she thought about it, the more she thought it'd be Yang herself who would be the one to confess, but it was the other way around.

The blonde squeezed her hand tightly, a genuine grin present. "I've wanted nothing more than to be with you for all this time."

Weiss seemed taken aback from the statement. "What? Really?"

"Yeah," Yang easily replied. "We didn't get along at first, but there was something about you I noticed the very moment we met. I don't know, there was something different. I thought about you constantly, even if it was in a negative way."

"Hey!"

Yang faintly laughed. "Come on, remember our first encounter? You pissed me off so much that I almost punched you."

Weiss scoffed and crossed her arms. "Please, I could have taken you."

"Keep tellin' yourself that," Yang said in amusement. "The point is that even though I thought about you negatively, I was still thinking about you all the time. The fact that we got on the same team didn't help those feelings."

Weiss carefully weighed her words as Yang continued.

"They eventually went from negative to positive and admiration."

"So you…" Weiss mumbled. "You want to be girlfriends?"

Yang simply leaned in, their hands connected on the surface. Weiss followed suit as they both closed their eyes.

Their lips grazed each other's at first, as if they were reluctant to go through with it. But then they leaned into it as they locked firmly together in passionate contact.

To Weiss, Yang tasted like how she smelled.

Like lemonade.

To Yang, Weiss tasted like sweet peppermint.

The two continued kissing for several seconds, not wanting to separate.

For fear if they did, it would be a dream.

The shattered moon beamed on them calmly as they shared the precious moment they'd been waiting a long time for.

After they gently separated, both of them were flushed from the sensual contact.

"That's a 'yes,' princess," Yang answered. "In case you didn't figure it out."

Weiss pouted, her face flushed. "I figured as much, brute."

Yang smiled and then stifled a laugh. "That was better than our first kiss."

"Considering I can actually move now," Weiss said. "It was much better."

The two shared giggles before they embraced and started to cuddle.

Yang's arm was around Weiss' shoulders as Weiss wrapped an arm around Yang's waist. They sat there in blissful silence, gazing at the shattered moon as a slight breeze grazed their hair.

"That was a thing…" Yang couldn't help but mutter fondly.

Weiss nuzzled into the crook of Yang's neck. "Yes, it was."

* * *

 **FINALLY! Oh. My. God. It's about time freezerburn got together! The chapter title refers to the summary of the story.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	66. Whoops?

**Can we just acknowledge for a hot sec _all_ this Freezerburn? Freezerburn week, Freezerburn canon, this Freezerburn fanfiction. Yes, Freezerburn is capitalized because it is a proper noun thank you very much.**

* * *

After Yang and Weiss confessed to each other, they immediately told their teammates that they were together _together_.

Girlfriends.

Ruby and Blake weren't surprised at all at the news. They had suspicions their sisters harbored some feelings for each other that were hidden under the surface. Especially after the dance.

Ruby was a little baffled when she recalled when Weiss and Yang first met. The two had almost killed each other, but she was there every step of the way as their relationship grew, so she wasn't that surprised.

Blake never really talked to Weiss about her relationship with Yang, but she noticed they had improved over the year. She definitely knew something was up when Yang kissed Weiss when she was in berserker mode. That confirmed her suspicions.

Secretly, Weiss and Yang were waiting for Blake and Ruby to get together. The freezerburn pair were hoping their new relationship would give the two the push they needed. Some encouragement or motivation to confess to each other.

Yang had always known her little sister liked Blake. Everyone on the team knew, including Blake herself. Especially after the night Ruby almost died and murmured the confession before losing consciousness.

So Yang and Weiss did what any normal couple would do.

They invited Blake and Ruby to tag along on their first date.

Of course, Ruby and Blake were hesitant at first, stating that they didn't want to be a bother on the freezerburn pair's first date. But Yang and Weiss insisted, saying that going as a team would mean much more to them. In reality, they were just hoping to get Blake and Ruby some alone time to sort their feelings.

Since it was fall, team RWBY bundled up for the event. Ruby wore a red coat, her red cape still flowing behind her. Weiss adorned snowpea with a long white scarf and white mittens. Blake wore a fashionable black coat and mittens with an extra bow around her cat ears. Yang adorned a white coat and her normal orange-red scarf was on display.

The freezerburn pair wanted to do what normal couples do in the fall.

Go to an outdoor ice rink.

The team was standing on the ground just before hopping on the ice. Weiss noticed Yang seemed troubled, so she grasped her arm in assurance.

"What's the matter?" the heiress asked with a wry grin, egging her on. "Never ice skated before?"

She knew she shouldn't be teasing her girlfriend like that, considering she'd never been ice skating either.

"Heh," Yang scoffed, regaining her confidence. "This'll be nothin.'"

"Fearless, are we?"

"Don't you forget it."

Before the freezerburn pair stepped on the ice with their skates, Yang looked over her shoulder and noticed Blake looked concerned.

"What's the matter, kitten?" Yang teased. "Afraid you won't be able to land on your feet this time?"

"Oh, shut it," Blake deadpanned. "You should know by now that I always land on my feet."

"Except that one time," Yang casually reminded.

The blonde didn't want to bring up the fact that Weiss knocked Blake off balance when she was in berserker mode, and noticed Blake's cat ear twitched from the memory. Blake soared backwards and crashed safely into Ruby's waiting arms. Thankfully, Ruby saved the aristocrat from breaking anything on the icy ground.

Ruby was quick to move along the conversation as she giggled. "Let's go. Come on, I got you!"

The freezerburn pair went ahead of Ruby and Blake as planned. There was a crunch of mini spikes against ice, something the pair found pleasant. The crunch echoed throughout the area, along with the murmurs of various voices around them. The ice rink wasn't too crowded with people, but there was a decent number of citizens there as they glided and spun around the rink.

Not surprisingly, Weiss easily found her footing and glided across the sheet of ice like a natural. Yang cursed under her breath at her girlfriend's talent. She found it difficult to keep herself poised, but thankfully, her shorter partner was there to offer an arm.

"Thanks," the blonde said earnestly as she gently grabbed her arm. "Your affinity for ice is very handy."

Weiss let out an amused chuckle. "I have to admit, I never thought it'd be used for something so… normal."

Yang grinned, happy the two were in perfect unison as they skated side-by-side. "You say it like it's a bad thing."

"It's not a bad thing," Weiss assured, mirth in her tone. "It's just- considering our backgrounds," she glanced behind at Blake. "I never thought we'd do this. If you told the me a year ago that this would happen, I would've laughed and not believed you."

"It's a very good thing then," Yang replied. "You gotta- whoa!"

The blonde almost fell, but Weiss tightened her grip on Yang, which kept her stable and elicited a blush from both of them. For some reason, Weiss felt oddly accomplished when she managed to get her girlfriend flustered. It was difficult, considering Yang was usually the one doing the teasing.

"J-just stay close to me," Weiss said as she pulled her close. "You don't want to fall, do you?"

Yang playfully rolled her eyes as she wrapped an arm around Weiss' waist. "Yeah, I'll stay close to avoid _falling._ That's it."

The blonde barely held back a giggle, knowing her girlfriend just wanted an excuse to be close together.

"Ya know, princess," Yang whispered and leaned in closely. "If you wanna touch me, you can," she sent a wink.

And there went Weiss' accomplishment, fleeting away into dust as her face heated up. Yang sure sprang back fast.

"Would you shut it, brute?" Weiss playfully flicked her forehead. "I swear, you'll be the death of me."

Ruby and Blake watched the two giggle from a distance. They noticed Weiss was the one mainly leading and took it slow. It was easy to see Yang was a little unsteady on her skates as glided by, but her white-haired partner didn't mind taking it slow.

Blake kept a death grip around Ruby's arm, causing Ruby to be a nervous mess. _It's like we're a couple!_ Ruby thought excitedly. _I wonder if anyone thinks we're girlfriends._

"Ruby."

The call of her named snapped her out of her thoughts. "Yeah?"

"Have you ever been ice skating?" Blake asked, still getting used to the slippery surface.

"Nope!" Ruby beamed, a puff of air coming from her mouth due to the cold. "You're pretty good at this."

Blake finally stood tall and slid alongside Ruby. "You're not so bad either."

Ruby smiled and then looked ahead, where she saw Weiss tug on Yang's orange-red scarf, which earned a loving grin from the blonde.

"They're so cute together…" Ruby couldn't help but mumble.

Blake easily caught the comment with her enhanced hearing. "Remember when Yang almost punched her?"

"Ha!" Ruby chuckled. "Who could forget that? She almost did several times. You should've seen her after they first met."

Blake tilted her head. "Why? Was she smitten?" she asked in a teasing tone.

"The total opposite," Ruby informed, amusement in her voice. "She was so angry she destroyed the punching bag she got a few days before."

"I think you mean _yangry_ ," Blake corrected, a sly smirk present.

Ruby groaned. "Ugh, Blake! Not you, too!"

Yang heard some part of the conversation and didn't like it when her sister seemed upset. "Rubes!" she glanced behind her. "What happened?"

"She made a stupid pun!" Ruby shouted. "You've messed her up!"

Yang beamed an ear-to-ear grin at Blake and gave her thumbs up. "That's my kitten!"

Blake smiled from the gesture as her and Ruby continued to skate across the smooth ice.

Weiss playfully scowled and gently slapped Yang's thumbs away. "Don't encourage the puns, brute. They're more contagious than you think."

"Puns make the world go 'round," Yang said.

Weiss sighed and took a deep breath. "This is why we can't have _ice_ things."

The grin she received from her girlfriend was totally worth the lame joke. Weiss swore Yang's smile could light up the world if she wanted it to.

"Yes!" Yang pumped her fist in the air, only to almost fall from the action.

The heiress kept her upright, something Yang was grateful for.

"Be careful," the heiress warned. "Falling looks like it hurts."

"I won't as long as you're holding me~" Yang beamed gregariously. "Don't think I'll forget that pun you made."

Weiss groaned, hoping to move the conversation along.

"The pun infection has contaminated you, too," Yang stated. "Next up is Rubes."

"What?!" she heard Ruby shout from behind.

"Nothing, dolt!" Weiss quickly replied, not wanting to drag her leader into this.

Blake giggled and glanced to Ruby. "It's nothing to worry about."

"Come oooonnn," Ruby whined. "Tell meeeee."

"Nah," Blake waved off. "Just let me _skate_ around the subject."

The blood-faunus had never heard someone exaggerate a groan like that.

"You know…" Ruby said in a bargaining tone. "Some of these puns are on _thin ice_."

"Yang!" Blake called. "We got her!"

"Yes!" Yang cheered. "Team RWBY is officially funny!"

Weiss gave her a look. "Your version of funny is disappointing."

"Ouch," Yang cringed, acting like she'd just been shot. "That hurt."

"It's okay," Weiss said fondly. "I like that about you."

"You finally admit it," Yang replied. "It's about time."

"What are you insinuating?" Weiss huffed.

"Woah," Yang mocked surrender. "We're using big words?"

Weiss scowled. "I use big words."

Yang tilted her head. "Like what?"

"Concupiscent," Weiss stated with a smirk.

Yang's mouth was agape from the memory. "You knew!?"

When Weiss met Jaune for the first time, she used that term to describe him. Little did Yang and Ruby know, Weiss heard their conversation and realized they didn't even know what the word meant.

"It's not even a big word," Weiss crossed her arms. "You can't hide anything from me."

"Guess not. Although, I won't complain," the blonde grinned.

Weiss simply smiled. Yang noticed her cheeks were a little red and gathered it wasn't from the teasing. Her girlfriend must've been cold.

In concern, Yang flared her aura and held her hand to transfer the warmth to her. Weiss loved the sudden calm, warm sensation. The blonde noticed she enjoyed it a lot, so she flared her aura even more to spoil her.

But she didn't notice the steam rising from the ice.

From the sight, Ruby yelped. "Yang! Tone it down!"

From the call of her name, Yang was caught off guard and accidentally flared her hot aura even more. Soon, the entire ice rink was emitting steam. People murmured in confusion, wondering what was happening and searching for the cause. Others began to get off the rink.

"Yang!" Weiss exclaimed and squeezed her hand. "Lower your-"

Echoes of screams erupted from various people that were on the rink, or rather, _in_ it.

Splashes reached people's ears. Outfits were now wet as they stood in lukewarm water.

Yang had misjudged how much aura she emitted and thanks to that, everyone found themselves treading and standing in water. Zero ice remained as steam continued to rise.

People were screaming, children were crying, and citizens were trying to swim out of the new pool. Although, a few kids invited the strange turn of events and started to swim, kicking their legs giddily behind them.

Weiss scowled at her girlfriend, her mood turned sour now that she was soaked. "Yang, what the...?"

"Eheheh," Yang chuckled dryly and sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "Whoops?"

Frantically, Blake jumped on top of Ruby since she despised the water. "Yang!" she hissed. "I'm going to kill you!"

The aristocrat had at least half of her body drenched, the ends of her jet-black hair soaked. By accident, her fangs popped out from anger and frustration.

Meanwhile, Ruby stood in the water, her cape now weighing her down. The other thing that weighed her down was Blake, who was now on her shoulders. But Ruby didn't mind and had a content grin, although she wished Blake wasn't so upset. Ruby didn't mind the water at all, she just feared the coldness she'd feel when she got out of the new pool.

"The kitten didn't land on her feet this time…" Yang mumbled.

Blake's cat ear twitched in annoyance. "Shut up!"

Absolute mayhem surrounded them. Some children were too small to get out of the water-rink, so adults helped pull them up and on the ground. Some children were screaming and in shock, wondering what caused the madness.

The people who had made it out were drenched and shivered from the constant cool breeze.

"Can you use your zehn to fix it?" Yang asked hopefully.

She knew Weiss wielded the ice element with her vampiric ability, so maybe there was a chance to save the rink.

"No way," Weiss shot that thought down. "We're in public."

Meanwhile, Ruby gave Blake a lift out of the newly formed pool. After, she accepted the aristocrat's hand and was pulled up herself. The leader would have given Blake her cape, but it was soaking wet, so it would have had the opposite effect of warming her up.

"Heads up!"

Blake and Ruby looked over and noticed it was Yang who yelled. The blonde heaved Weiss above her head using only one hand.

"Here ya go!" Yang exclaimed as Weiss dangled above her, a distraught look in her eyes.

"Huh?" Blake mumbled, stumbling back a bit. "Oh no."

"Ready!" Yang heaved her back.

"Wait Y-Yang!" Weiss yelped. "You don't really think you're going to-!"

"Hey, hold on now!" Ruby shrieked.

Like a javelin, the blonde heaved Weiss and tossed her out of the pool. The heiress let out an ear-piercing scream as she soared directly into Ruby and Blake, who flew backwards from the impact.

The three groaned as they tried to gain their bearings. Thankfully, they landed on the grass instead of concrete.

Ruby and Blake were seeing stars and heard the frantic calls of their names.

"Oh no!" it sounded like Weiss. "Blake?! Ruby?! Dust, they're dead!"

Blake groaned again and opened her dreary amber eyes. "We'll… live."

Weiss worriedly checked her sister. "You're alive- Ruby!"

Ruby grimaced in pain. "Weiss… crushing… me…"

The heiress didn't even realize she was still on top of the two. She stood in a rush and knelt next to her leader.

"I'm sorry."

Ruby sat up with Weiss' help as her hand braced her back. "It's okay. It was-"

"-the brute's fault!" Weiss finished angrily.

"Uh…" Ruby mumbled. "I was gonna say an accident, but that works, too."

Yang sauntered up to the rest of her teammates, already dried off thanks to her semblance. "Hey, you guys caught her! Good job."

"Not like we had an option," Blake mumbled.

"You almost killed them!" Weiss chided. "Why do you always do things like this? I swear it's like being with a five year old. You could've really hurt someone, you know-"

As Weiss continued her rant, Blake and Ruby found their footing. They brushed off their wet clothes from the dirt and grass they landed on and adorned wry grins at Yang flinching from the lecture. By this point, everyone that was at the rink had left to go home, shivering all the while.

"-you're going to use that semblance of yours to warm us up, especially Blake!" Weiss demanded, knowing how irritated her sister got when she was sopping wet. "It's the least you can do."

Yang sighed heavily, then got a mischievous spark in her eyes. "C'mere you!"

She wrapped her arms around Weiss, which instantly enshrouded her in warmth. The heiress tried to fight her hold, considering she was seething at her girlfriend…

"Yang! How dare-"

...but the warmth was too much to resist. She ended up accepting the embrace and leaned into her.

"There we go," Yang whispered. "Snug as a bug in a rug."

Blake and Ruby noticed how angry Weiss was, but the moment she was hugged she was calm. Since Yang was obviously flaring her aura, they huddled in the embrace. Yang pulled the three close, a wide grin present as her semblance worked in their favor.

After several seconds, the three teammates were warm, but not completely dry. It was still a huge improvement from being completely drenched.

They released sighs of relief.

Yang beamed a smile. "There! Wasn't that a fun first date?"

Weiss contemplated the experience. The mood was pretty good up until her girlfriend melted the entire damn rink. Then Yang threw her like a football into her teammates, almost knocking both of them out.

Despite that, it was definitely a day she'd remember. She wouldn't say she didn't have fun. In fact, she better get used to things like that happening if she was dating the rambunctious blonde.

Weiss sighed, more out of relief than annoyance.

"It certainly didn't go as expected, but yes. It was fun."

Yang slung her arm around her shoulders. "It was, wasn't it? Even though that whole thing was kinda my fault."

"'Kinda,'" Ruby bitterly quoted. "It was all your fault."

Blake nodded. "Leave it to you to mix up the day."

"You know that's not a bad thing," Yang pointed out.

Multiple groans.

In silence, the team began walking back to Beacon Academy. Ruby and Yang were looking forward to hot chocolate while Blake and Weiss looked forward to warm soup.

"Excuse me," Blake tapped Yang's shoulder to grab her attention. "Don't think you're done."

"Huh?" Yang was perplexed from her partner's words. "What do you mean?"

"Keep flaring that semblance," Blake demanded. "I'm still wet."

"That's what she said," the blonde easily replied.

More groans.

* * *

 ***Holds up the chappy* IT'S SO FLUFFY!**

 **The "whoops?" line gets me every time.**

 **Finals and dead week are coming up, so Let Me Hear and my other story, Time to Make History, are going on hiatus. The next chapter for LMH will be posted December 24th! Sorry, but at least this isn't a cliffhanger. Seeya in a few weeks and for those who have finals soon, good luck!**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	67. I Think We Won

**Merry Christmas Eve! I hope your finals went dandily!**

* * *

It was the almost the end of the weekend and team RWBY wanted to spend it with their friends, so they got together with team JNPR.

It took a lot of debate to decide how to spend their day.

After listening to countless rants and things almost getting physical about what to do, the teams had come to a decision.

Volleyball.

Beacon's gym was pretty large and smelled of blood, sweat, and tears. That was the only place the teams could go to for a match.

The large room was vacant, something that relieved the group.

Now the problem was splitting up into volleyball teams, so they decided on a simple coin toss.

Oddly enough, Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Yang became one team. They were powerhouses on the combat field, minus Jaune. They took one end of the court and began stretching, thinking they had the win in the bag. Yang popped her knuckles in preparation.

Meanwhile, they were against Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Ren. While they aren't the most powerful, all of them were nimble and fast. Ruby had already developed some strategies for them to win. All she wanted to do was wipe that smug grin off her sister's face.

"They have a team of tanks," Weiss calmly observed.

"It's okay, Weissy," Ruby spun the ball in her hands. "We'll win with speed."

"What's the matter?!" Yang yelled from across the court and flexed her biceps. "Afraid?"

"Of all of you but one," the heiress countered as she stared at the blond boy.

"Hey! I'm actually decent at volleyball!" Jaune yelped.

"It's okay, Jaune," Pyrrha placed a hand on his back. "You will do wonderfully."

Jaune blushed. "T-thanks, Pyr."

"Power versus agility," Blake smirked. "I like this matchup. I like it a lot."

"Heads up!" Ruby yelped.

That got the other team's attention. Now that they were paying attention, Ruby threw the ball in the air and crouched before jumping. She swung her arm back and spiked it across the net.

The other team scrambled to reach the ball since they weren't prepared.

The volleyball headed directly to Jaune, who started to panic at the sheer force behind the hit. Luckily, Nora dove in front of him and hit the ball high in the air closer to the net. Yang took that as her cue to run up to the net.

Weiss expected her girlfriend to spike it, so she crouched down with her arms out, ready to take the harsh impact. However, Yang pretended like she was about to slam the ball on the ground, but outsmarted her and barely tapped the ball, leaving it to drop dead on the other side of the court. As it plopped on the wooden floor, Yang made a playful pop sound with her mouth.

"What?" Weiss mumbled.

"You can't just keep your eye on the ball," Yang advised. "You gotta watch the players, too."

That got Weiss fuming from her negligence. She narrowed her eyes at the blonde in determination. "Duly noted."

"It's ok, Weissy!" Ruby encouraged. "We'll just get the next one!"

Now it was Pyrrha's turn to serve. Naturally, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Ren backed up, knowing her serve would have some force.

They weren't surprised when the volleyball rocketed over the net. The ball soared directly to Ren, who leaned into his return. After the smooth hit, the ball soared out of bounds, but Blake refused to let it hit the floor. She sprinted as fast as she could and dove with one arm sticking out.

Her fist would have missed the ball, but she felt a violent propulsion directly behind her. It enshrouded her in a white light, something that felt familiar. The propulsion sent her flying forwards and the ball soared upward in bounds.

Everyone gasped and were surprised she actually hit it.

Ruby gawked when the ball almost hit the ceiling, but she came to Blake's rescue and smacked it back over to her team, where Weiss returned it to the other side. The ball hit Jaune's face and dropped to the ground.

Jaune was sent sprawling to the wooden floor and he rubbed his face, muttering under his breath. Pyrrha knelt next to him and helped him up.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just surprised me is all," Jaune informed.

"Hey!" Yang yelped and pointed accusingly at her girlfriend. "You used your semblance!"

"So?" Weiss asked sassily. "There are no rules saying we can't use them, right?"

Yang looked to Pyrrha for help.

"What she's saying is true," Pyrrha couldn't deny.

"That would be so cool!" Nora beamed. "Let's allow semblances!"

"You wouldn't even be able to use yours," Yang pointed out.

"So?!" Nora exclaimed. "Don'tcha think it'll be more fun?"

Yang sighed heavily. "Fine. Fine! Semblances are allowed."

"So the point counts," Blake smirked.

"Yep!" Nora beamed.

After the vampire sisters exchanged high-fives, it was Ren's turn to serve. The score was tied at 1-1 and they looked forward to bringing it up, especially after how haughtily Yang acted earlier.

Ren threw the ball so high it almost hit the ceiling. After it dropped halfway, he jumped and kicked the ball to the side, sending it in a straight line to the other team. The ball barely grazed the net but made it over.

If semblances were allowed, then they didn't mind if anyone kicked the ball, either.

That was child's play.

Jaune sprinted to the left to reach it, but Yang was closer and easily set it in the air. The serve was mainly graceful and lacked strength.

From that, Pyrrha signaled to Nora, who jumped on top of her red-head friend. Pyrrha heaved Nora into the air right next to the ball. With a grin, Nora slammed her wrist into the ball, spiking it menacingly to the other team. The ball was flying so fast no one would be surprised if it caught on fire.

Ren wasn't prepared for the sheer force exerted by his partner. The ball hit his shoulder, sending it flying backward. Thankfully, Ruby made it there on time with her speed semblance and returned the ball back over to her team.

Blake got dangerously close to the net and accidentally set the volleyball into it, causing it to drop back onto her shoulder. It smacked the ground with a loud thump.

The other team gave each other high fives from the small victory, which landed them in a 2-1 lead.

"It's okay, Blake!" Ruby gave her thumbs up. "We'll get 'em next time!"

"Right!" that cheered Blake up and she crouched to the floor, getting ready for the next serve.

Yang received the ball and took her spot in the server's corner. She tossed the ball playfully a few times with a smirk as she flared her aura tauntingly.

"Oh no…" Weiss muttered.

With a final toss, Yang warped her fist aflame and rocketed the ball over the net. The ball was on fire as it plummeted directly to Weiss.

To defend herself from the menacing flame, Weiss subtlety used zehn to coat her forearms in ice. The ice layer was so thin her teammates didn't see it and were surprised when she hit the ball without wincing in pain.

Yang knew _exactly_ what her girlfriend did. The blonde was proud of how sly she'd grown with her vampiric ability.

Blake was suspicious of the move and tried to cover it up by sending a clone to hit the target that was a few feet high. When the clone hit it, the ball was coated partially in ice since she used an ice clone. This made the flames wither and ice now enshrouded half the ball, while the other half was burnt.

Nora didn't see the ice part and giddily ran after the target. However, she cringed in pain when the tiny spikes poked her arms.

"Ow," Nora muttered.

"Your sacrifice won't be in vain!" Yang assured as she flared her aura and sprinted to the ball.

She wanted to end this point _now_.

She hopped up and set the ball aflame once more, hitting the target to the other side at a daunting speed.

Before Yang even touched the ball, Weiss yelped. "Ruby!" and summoned a glyph.

"Right!" the leader yelled back and jumped on the midair glyph to reach the ball. Things didn't go as expected and she ended up hitting it with her head, which left a burning sensation. Dizzily, Ruby was knocked off her feet and landed safely on the floating glyph.

The ball grazed the top of the net and landed in front of Nora, who was too busy blowing on her arms to ease the burning from her previous contact with the ball.

"You okay, Nora?" Ren asked from across the court.

"Sympathy for the enemy, huh?" Nora hastily replied. "Not a chance! You won't distract me!"

Ren simply sighed, seemingly accepting her words. Explaining he was worried for her well-being right now would be pointless.

The score was now 2-2. Considering they were playing until point five, it was a close game.

Since her team got the last score, Blake took the serving corner. With a plan in mind, she tossed the ball and it almost hit the ceiling. With her cat reflexes, she did an impressive backflip and kicked it across the court.

"Woah..." Ren muttered in awe.

The volleyball landed directly on Pyrrha's arms, so she easily sent it back over to the other side.

Weiss ran up to the net and jumped, her hand in the air to collide with the target. However, she misjudged how tall she was and the ball ended up gliding just above her fingers. It landed directly behind her with a tormented thump.

Weiss' jaw dropped from the miscalculation.

Her girlfriend's reaction made her eyes twitch. "Aw, princess! You thought you were tall enough to reach that?"

"Shut up, brute!" Weiss fumed.

Not even grazing it was embarrassing enough, she didn't need someone to announce her fail.

Yang snickered lightly. "You're so adorable."

"Oh, you'll get adorable," Weiss teasingly threatened.

Now it was Jaune's turn to serve. The team rotated and he served underhand. The hit didn't even need to be returned when Ruby called.

"Out!" she yelled, which stopped Weiss in her tracks.

The ball landed outside the lines and Jaune was left standing there in disappointment.

"Good at volleyball, huh?" Yang teased.

"It's just not my day," Jaune whined. "First I get hit in the face and now this."

"You're trying your best," Pyrrha happily chimed. "That's all that matters."

Jaune heavily sighed. "Uh huh…"

The score was now tied at 3-3.

It was Weiss' turn to serve as she stepped in the corner. She threw the ball upward very high as she had a smirk. Before gravity could take effect, Weiss conjured a glyph. This held the ball in midair as it spun mercilessly. Her team erupted in amused giggles as she twirled her fingers, icy eyes never leaving Yang.

Yang's eye twitched.

Her girlfriend was taunting her! She supposed she deserved it, though.

With a final twirl, Weiss' glyph turned black and she sent it soaring directly at Yang as payback. The blonde panicked and looked away with her hands up, surprised to realize that the burnt ball collided with her fingers.

Before the ball hit the ground, Pyrrha dove for it. Her fist barely bounced off it and she gave a relieved smile.

While the ball was in the air, Nora went for it. She intended to fake power hit and instead just barely graze it. However, Weiss watched her wrist carefully because of Yang's advice and wasn't fooled.

Weiss positioned herself in front of the net instead of far away from the rest of her teammates. They know Nora is powerful so they scooted back.

As inferred, Nora barely tapped the ball. It barely grazed the top of the net and tipped over. Weiss took that as her cue to propel herself to the other end of the court. She simply tapped the ball before it fell over, causing it to drop on the other side.

"Yes!" Ruby cheered. "Nice work."

Weiss whipped her hair sassily before gazing at Yang. "It was easy enough."

"She's taunting me!" Yang whined. "Blakey, do something!"

Blake smirked at her sister. "Good job," she high fived her.

Weiss returned the gesture and huffed in victory.

"Traitor…" the blonde mumbled.

The score was now 4-3. If Ruby's team could get another point, they'd be the winners.

Now it was Ruby's turn to serve again. She backed up before tossing the ball forwards. With her semblance, she sped up and whacked the ball with a playful punch.

Pyrrha used her knee pads to slide across the court, effectively hitting the target. Nora took that as her chance to set the ball even higher. After she did so, she backed away to let her other teammates do the work.

With Jaune's help, Yang was sent sky high and she mimicked Blake's serve. She used her foot to slam the ball to the other side.

Blake smirked and countered with a headbutt, which sent it to the ceiling. With Ruby's help, Ren soared up to the ball and used his own foot to rocket it over the net.

Nora scrambled to reach the ball, but she fell over and face planted, her arms sprawled out in front of her as she yelped. Luckily, the burnt and icy ball landed on her back with a loud smack and it bounced.

Pyrrha wasted no time and dove forward, setting the ball higher and away from the dangerous wooden floor.

"Mine!" Yang took that as her cue to spike it over the net.

It soared directly into Ruby's face as she fell backward with a grunt. Instantly, Blake was there as she checked her over.

"Yang!" Weiss chided. "That's your sister!"

Yang casually dusted herself off. "Desperate times call for desperate measures. Next point wins."

Weiss knew her girlfriend was competitive, but she certainly didn't think she'd target her sister.

"Are you okay?" Blake worriedly asked her leader.

"Yeah," Ruby slowly sat up with Blake's help. "I'm good. We'll just have to get her back."

"Right," Blake nodded.

The two stood and Ruby pointed accusingly at her sister. "You're going down!"

Yang spun an arm in circles of boredom. "I knew that little spike wouldn't hurt ya."

Since their team got the point, it was Pyrrha's turn to serve again. The score was now tied at 4-4. The next point would be the victors.

Everyone crouched down to get ready.

Surprisingly, Pyrrha gently tapped the ball instead of slamming it. The torn-up ball headed to Ren.

"Mine!"

Ren held his hands up and set it with ease, which allowed Blake to sneak in and spike the target.

Yang returned the ball and the ball soared high into the air. To help, Nora pushed the target over the net to the other side.

Easily, Weiss set the ball, which allowed Ruby to jump and spike it directly at Jaune.

The hit held surprisingly a lot of force, but Jaune was crouched to the ground and was ready. However, as he stepped forward, he tripped over his shoelaces. His face once again took the brunt force of the ball as it glided over the net to the middle of the other side.

The four on the other team rushed to get the ball before it could land

Blake and Ren had their legs out to kick the target. However, they moved at tremendous speeds at the same time and ended up ramming each other's shins. They crashed to the floor and grunted in pain while holding their legs.

To reach the ball that was frighteningly close to landing, Weiss used her glyphs and Ruby used her speed semblance.

The two were on a collision course and instead of smacking the ball, they thrashed into each other with the target in between their bodies. From the impact, they flew backward and writhed on the floor in agony.

Their entire team was sprawled out on the floor, groaning in pain.

Yang gazed at the amusing scene and then the half-burnt ball rolled on the floor.

"I think we won."

* * *

Currently, it was late at night. Team RWBY went to sleep a few hours ago, but there was one member who couldn't slip into a slumber.

Despite having fun earlier that day, Weiss couldn't stop thinking about what she did in the past.

Her horrible deeds.

The destruction of the White Fang hideouts.

The deaths she was responsible for.

Winter.

Cinder.

Although, she felt like she shouldn't think lowly of the woman because she was a murderer. Weiss was the same as her in that aspect. But she thought of her, and even despised the woman because Cinder murdered her _sister._

And she had every right to feel that way.

She kept tossing and turning in her bunk. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get comfortable or turn her brain off. All her teammates were sleeping and Zwei was right next to her. Despite his presence normally being comforting, she felt suffocated.

With a sigh, she sat up and her eyes lingered to her girlfriend's top bunk.

Her face flushed as she debated what to do. _Yang is good at comforting others… especially me. She always knows what to say,_ she shook her head. _No, I can't wake her up, she's sleeping so soundly,_ the heiress laid back down in defiance. _But… she's my girlfriend and I doubt I can get any sleep. She'd know tomorrow that something is wrong._

Weiss sat up once more and gingerly hopped out of her bunk, muttering under her breath. Finally, in the middle of the night, she wasn't sneaking out but instead seeking comfort for her problems.

It felt really nice to know she was cared for by people other than her family.

She could go to Yang for _anything_ and that knowledge alone made her extremely happy.

She never thought she'd ever trust someone so much.

After a deep breath, she approached Yang's bunk. Her vampire sister was fast asleep and didn't notice her standing by her bunk.

 _Come on Weiss,_ she tried to give herself a pep talk as she gazed at the sleeping blonde. _Even though she angered you today, she's Yang… she's…_

Weiss lowered her head, a tear cascaded down her cheek.

 _She's my light in the darkness._

She took a deep breath and carefully stepped on Blake's bunk to reach her girlfriend. Hesitantly, she reached out and nudged the blonde, too upset to whisper.

To her surprise, Yang was easy to rouse. Her bleary lilac eyes were shimmering brightly in the moonlight, something Weiss found entrancing.

"Weiss," Yang said with urgency when she noticed her cheeks were wet. "What's wrong?" Weiss shyly looked away and another tear fell. Instantly, Yang grabbed her hand. "C'mere."

Weiss simply nodded and with Yang's help, rolled onto the top bunk next to her girlfriend.

Yang pulled her close and tugged the blankets to drape them over her guest. Weiss accepted the action as they faced each other and Yang gave her a warm smile. With a concerned expression, Yang wiped away the tears that stained Weiss' cheeks as she sniffled.

Yang was always there for Weiss, even if she didn't know it. The heiress adored her so dearly and couldn't help but want to be by her side.

"Wanna talk about it?"

Weiss gripped the back of Yang's pajamas tightly, almost too upset to speak. She replied with a hum of affirmation.

Yang soothed her fingers through the white waterfall and she whispered. "When you're ready."

After a few seconds of silence, Weiss took a deep breath.

"It's a lot of things…" she confided. "The number one thing is Winter."

Yang knew dealing with death took a lot of time to heal. To cheer her up, she pecked her girlfriend on the nose, eliciting a blush and a small squeal of surprise. Weiss didn't seem to mind it, despite the initial shock.

"I'm sorry," Yang apologized. "You looked so sad, so I did what came naturally…"

"No, thank you, Yang," Weiss said earnestly. "Just you being here helps."

Yang grinned and nuzzled into the crook of her girlfriend's neck while they embraced.

"What did I do to deserve you?" Weiss asked, baffled that she ended up with such a nice person. "I-I killed so many people… how could you even be in the same room as someone like me?" she sniffled a few more times, her voice wavered halfway through.

Yang continued to sooth through her white waterfall. "Because you're you," she simply answered. From the reply, Weiss looked surprised, so Yang went on. "It's like Blake said, you had no control over yourself when you went to the White Fang hideouts."

"That may be," the heiress replied. "But I had control when I traveled to those places."

"The thing is," Yang began. "You infiltrated them to find more information about Cinder, right?"

A timid nod.

"Your goal was genuine and pure," the blonde informed. "You wanted to find her for Winter, right?"

At the mention of her name, more tears poured out of her eyes.

Yang peppered kisses all over her face and on a few of the tears. She was torn apart from seeing the one she loved so dearly in such a state.

"Please take Blake's advice to heart," Yang begged. "When we found you, you were a different person. The Weiss right here would never hurt a fly. The Weiss in berserker mode… that was beyond your control."

"I'm sorry," Weiss apologized. "I don't remember what happened, but I think I know bits and pieces. I know I hurt Blake and Ruby. All of you. Even Zwei."

Yang remained silent, weighing her words.

"And don't tell me I didn't," Weiss stated in a low whisper. "I saw the marks their aura failed to heal quickly, even though everyone tried to cover them."

"Weiss," Yang said solemnly. "Don't think too much about that, okay? It's all in the past and there's nothing you can do about it. What matters is that we're all okay."

Weiss loosened the tight grip she had on Yang's back and sighed.

Yang didn't deny it.

"The thing is, there will always be something you cannot control," Yang kept her voice even. "Don't take all of the weight like you always do."

The more Weiss thought about it, the more she thought her girlfriend was right.

There was no point in wallowing in self-pity.

There was no point in constantly thinking of the past.

It only served to hurt the present.

Hell, the reason she went to Yang was to receive comfort. That itself was a step in the right direction.

"Thank you, Yang," Weiss murmured as she buried her head in the crook of her girlfriend's neck. "How can I ever repay you?"

She felt immensely better, even just being in her embrace, she could see a glimmer of hope.

Yang hummed, pretending to think about how she could repay her. "You could stay with me tonight."

Weiss cracked a small smile and pecked Yang's nose. "That was the plan."

Yang tightened her grip around Weiss' waist and pulled her closer. The heiress scooted over, her arms draped over the blonde's toned torso, her head tucked into Yang's neck.

Yang had a faint grin as she placed a gentle hand on the back of Weiss' head, her other hand around Weiss' delicate waist. That position allowed Yang to dare any nightmares to ail her girlfriend.

"G'night, princess," Yang pecked her girlfriend's scar over her left eye.

Weiss pecked Yang's neck and nuzzled into it. "Goodnight, brute."

The warmth was comforting and erased all their worries. It only took a few minutes for the two to drift off in a deep slumber.

* * *

 **One of the main songs referenced in this chapter is X.U.**

 **Quote in fic: "The thing is, there will always be something you cannot control. Don't take all of the weight like you always do." -Yang's advice.**

 **Song: "Don't take all of the weight- you always do. There will always be something you cannot control."**

 **Jaune was the worst player, but he won them the match, so I guess he redeemed himself. I try not to bully him too much. I hope you have a dandy Christmas!**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	68. The Next Step

**This is posted super early because I have an early flight to get back home! I hope you're enjoying your break :D**

* * *

"Arf!"

Sun stared at the small corgi, wondering why the animal kept barking at him. "What?"

Zwei yipped again and his tongue lolled to the side.

"He likes your tail," Ruby pointed out.

Sun turned around and waved his monkey tail back and forth in front of the small dog. As if to show off, this caused Zwei to jump and try to softly snatch the furry appendage with gentle jaws. However, the corgi narrowly missed as Sun curled his tail around himself.

"Heheh," Sun chuckled, amused at the corgi. "I like him! Why do you guys even have him?"

"Dog's aren't allowed at Beacon," Neptune chimed. "How've you been hiding him?"

"Our room," Yang informed. "Dad is outta town on a mission and couldn't look after him. This lil guy had nowhere to go but here."

Currently, team RWBY, Sun and Neptune were walking around Vale. Zwei had been restless lately, so Ruby took it upon herself to sneak the little corgi out of their room by using her backpack. When her team realized what she had planned, they wanted to tag along.

Vale had a humble park, where they were walking around instead of the city's streets. Multiple dogs were also on leashes as their owners strolled around.

It was a little chilly outside, but they were constantly moving, so no one was cold in the slightest. Despite it being chilly, the sun's rays constantly beamed down on them and the park, although a few clouds occasionally blocked the rays, causing the atmosphere to feel murky instead of lively.

There weren't very many people in the park, but it wasn't completely empty.

Yang brought the dog leash, which held bags to pick up poop in case Zwei did his business. If there was one thing the team learned this year, it was that Zwei did his business on concrete. An unconventional place for a lot of people. Including Ozpin.

"Doesn't he get annoying?" Sun asked. "And smell bad?"

"You get used to it," Blake deadpanned, her tone suggesting it was a pain in the ass to do so.

It took her a long time, but she'd finally grown accustomed to Zwei's scent, no matter how intoxicating it was. To normal people, the corgi didn't even have a distinct smell, but to faunus like Blake and Sun, the aroma was a tad overwhelming.

Blake had grown so used to it she didn't even notice it anymore since she adapted. This was Sun's first time meeting the dog, so the scent was a new sensation. He wouldn't call it unpleasant, but it certainly wasn't pleasant.

"Okay, Zwei," Yang tugged on the leash. "Stop trying to bite his poor tail."

From the command, Zwei glued his stubby legs to the concrete. Like it never happened, the little corgi walked ahead of the group, greedily sniffing the air and enjoying the scents of the outside.

Sometimes team RWBY would crack open the window in their room when they went to class so Zwei could hear the sounds of the outside. They didn't like the fact that he was alone a lot of the time. Doing that made him think someone was with him, even if it was the chatter of students in the courtyard.

They were really glad they were taking him on a normal walk for once, instead of at three in the morning.

Sun wrapped his tail around Neptune's waist. "My tail belongs to one guy, with Nep!"

Neptune scooted closer to Sun and slung his arm around his shoulders.

Their actions didn't go unnoticed to team RWBY. During Beacon's dance, they had their suspicions the two were a couple since they went together, but Neptune's constant womanizing made it hard for them to form a proper conclusion.

Weiss, being as blunt as ever asked the question. "Are you a couple?"

Sun pounded his bare chest in victory. "Hell yeah!"

Seeing how happy he was made everyone else happy, even making Zwei's already giddy grin grow wider if that was possible.

"He's hopeless," Neptune stated as he gazed at his grinning partner.

"I know what you mean," Weiss nudged Yang.

"Hey, I'm not hopeless!" Yang yelped from the teasing.

"Okay, okay," the heiress surrendered. "Maybe not _completely_ hopeless."

"Oh gee, thanks," Yang drawled. "Feelin' the love."

Weiss simply smiled and grabbed her arm, giving her orange-red scarf a slight tug. This elicited a blush from Yang.

Watching the two interact was something Ruby and Blake liked to watch. However, when their eyes landed on the freezerburn duo, Neptune and Sun, that made them feel left out.

Blake and Ruby glanced at each other and then blushed. Right now, they felt like they were fifth and sixth wheeling, as they were the only pair not together. The little dog was blissfully unaware of how tense Blake and Ruby felt.

Like they should be together.

Seeing the couples like this made Ruby promise herself that she'd keep moving forward with Blake. After all they've been through, Ruby still had strong feelings towards the blood-faunus, and she was beginning to feel like she couldn't hold back anymore.

To ease the atmosphere, Ruby scooped Zwei in her arms. "Aw Zwei, you'll be my knight in shining armor, won't you?"

"Arf!"

The little corgi started to lick her face mercilessly, his flat tongue left slobber all over her cheeks. Ruby yelped giddily and cooed to her companion, playfully rubbing his broad ears.

For the first time in Blake's life, she was jealous of the ball of fur. She didn't know what irritated her more.

The fact that Zwei could be so close to Ruby so easily.

Or that stupid, smug grin on his face when he sent her a complacent gaze.

Blake wanted nothing more than to wipe it off, so she sauntered over to the pair.

With a challenging stare, amber eyes narrowed.

Zwei's beady eyes glared in return as he partially stuck his tongue out in a teasing manner.

Blake felt an irritated twitch form when he spat his tongue out. It was like the dog was an immature child.

Slowly, Zwei licked Ruby's cheek, taunting Blake to challenge him.

This made Blake snap. "That's it!"

"Woah," Ruby tucked the little dog into her chest protectively. "What's got you so upset?"

 _That little thing needs to get his grubby paws off you that's what!_ the aristocrat internally screamed. _He's making me look bad in front of you!_

Yang rubbed the top of her head in between her cat ears. "What's the matter, kitten? Cat got your tongue?"

 _More like dog,_ Blake frustratingly thought, not at all bothered by the pun. _I swear, Zwei exists to make me suffer._

"Arf!" the little corgi kicked his paws in the air while he was still in Ruby's arms.

Ruby took that as her cue to bring him closer to Blake, allowing the little corgi to lick her cheeks as well.

Blake just stood there, contemplating life and how she got in this position with an evident frown.

 _Ew, ew, ew, ew,_ Blake repeatedly thought. _How can Ruby like this?! This is so gross!_

"Woah, Blake," Weiss chimed. "I'm surprised you're not screaming."

Blake was shocked she could handle the licks as well, but she certainly couldn't handle as many as Ruby received.

After gently pushing the corgi away, she wiped off the slobber off her face with a frown still present.

"Trust me, I am."

* * *

That night around midnight, Ruby invited Blake to walk around the courtyard together.

The shattered moon's rays were beaming down on them. It was pleasantly quiet as a gentle breeze grazed their cheeks. No students were outside at this hour, so they had the freedom to talk about whatever they pleased.

The leader caught the fact that Blake seemed frustrated earlier, so she wanted to see what was wrong.

"Sorry I acted like that earlier," the blood-faunus apologized.

Ruby snickered faintly. "It's okay. What made you act like that anyways? I know you and Zwei sometimes don't get along, but I thought you guys were doing better."

Blake's nerves were still on edge when she remembered the corgi's smug grin when he licked Ruby. It was like he was taking her all for himself and not giving Blake a chance to talk with her leader.

A blush crept on Blake's cheeks. "It's nothing to worry about."

"If you say so," the leader simply shrugged.

"Want to sit on the bench?" Blake pointed to one in the distance.

"Bet I can beat you there!" Ruby chirped.

"I bet you could," Blake replied in amusement.

Of course Ruby would beat her. Her semblance is speed. Blake was naturally nimble, but Ruby excelled in agility.

"Go!" without warning, the leader bolted off and was sitting on the bench within a few seconds.

Blake playfully rolled her eyes and jogged over to join her on the wooden bench. It wasn't uncomfortable, but it was sturdy and cracked occasionally.

The two enjoyed a calm breeze as it refreshed their minds. Silver and amber eyes were glued to the shattered moon, until they found each other.

Ruby sharply inhaled for preparation of what she was about to say.

"Hey, Blake?"

Blake could tell Ruby was nervous. She had a guess as to why, but she ultimately let her leader say what was on her mind as a cat ear twitched.

"Yes?"

"You know I like you, right?" Ruby asked.

That caught Blake off guard. "Of course."

"N-no, I mean… like _like_ …" the leader clarified. "As in… I have a crush on you."

From the confession, Ruby's heartbeat accelerated. She was extremely nervous, yet relieved that she finally said it. It was like a huge weight was off her shoulders as she folded her hands in her lap, waiting for her response.

Blake's cat ears folded on top of her head. The corners of her lips slightly turned upward. Hearing that again, when Ruby was fully functional made her happy. "I know."

"Y-you do?"

Despite Blake's small smile, Ruby wondered why Blake seemed downcast about knowing. Her cat ears leaned back as if she was trying to hide something.

"Yes," Blake nodded. "I found out the night Cinder attacked. The same night as the dance. You confessed to me before you lost consciousness."

Ruby's cheeks flared red. "I-I did?" she took a second to think about those crucial moments.

Blake nodded.

"I did!" Ruby gasped in realization. "But if you knew this whole time, why didn't you say anything?" she was beginning to think Blake didn't feel the same way.

Pleading silver eyes met amber and Blake tore hers away as she bit her lip. "Because I'm a coward."

That word felt right.

This whole time, Blake felt like she didn't deserve someone as wonderful as Ruby.

Ruby deserves someone who wasn't a monster.

Someone who wasn't a murderer.

Which was why she never brought it up, even though she assured Yang she'd handle the situation.

Yang placed faith in her partner, but that faith was misplaced.

Even after Ruby found out about Blake's past, her feelings towards her didn't change. This was something that confused the aristocrat immensely.

"Blake," Ruby called and grasped her hand. "What's this about?"

"You should be with someone who isn't a monster," Blake easily replied like it was rehearsed. "Someone who wouldn't dare hurt a soul," reluctantly, Blake tore her hand out of Ruby's concerned grasp.

When Blake first realized her feelings towards Ruby, she didn't know what to do.

She accepted Ruby's comforting words and assurances.

She opened the door to her heart, but not to love.

The fact that Blake was a vampire and Ruby was a human wasn't even the main issue.

Blake felt like she couldn't reciprocate, thinking that there was no way someone as innocent and as pure as Ruby should _ever_ be with someone like her.

"Blake…" Ruby murmured. "Is this about your parents' murderers?"

Blake's cat ear flicked in recognition. Oddly enough, Ruby didn't mention the fact that she killed them, something that confused her even more.

"Yes," the blood-faunus admitted. "I refuse to let someone as amazing as you be with someone like me."

Ruby blushed from the comment about her, especially at how naturally Blake said that. In her heart, she knew that Blake wasn't the monster she deemed herself as.

"Listen," Ruby almost commanded, which caught Blake's attention. Rarely, Ruby used this tone of voice. "I don't know a lot about vampires, only the details you've given me," she took a deep breath. "After seeing what Weiss was capable of in this 'berserker' mode thingy you call it, I know for a fact you had no control of yourself when… _that_ happened."

Blake heaved a sigh, her eyes almost watered from the experience.

"You won't even say it," the blood-faunus choked out.

"Say what?" Ruby tilted her head.

"That I'm a murderer!" Blake exclaimed. "After all I've told you, you're not facing the truth!"

From the outburst, Ruby simply smiled. "Because you're not," she said with no doubt.

"Huh?" now Blake was even more confused.

"Like I said," the leader started. "I don't know much about vampires, but I can't get over that image of Weiss in berserker mode out of my head."

All black clothing, that daunting grimm mask, and the eye holes that showed her blood-red orbs full of hatred and rage.

"All those years ago definitely wasn't you that attacked them," Ruby said sternly. "It was someone- _something_ else. You said it yourself, you had no control of yourself, right? No one does when they go berserker, right?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't excuse the fact that-"

"Upupupuupup!" Ruby hushed. "Let me finish."

Blake hesitantly closed her mouth and let her leader continue.

"After you told us what happened in your past, what was the first thing you did?"

Blake seemed to be in deep thought. "Cried."

Ruby let slip a small chuckle. "Technically, yeah, but that's not what I was gonna say," she smiled. "The first thing you did was beg Weiss to not blame herself."

"So?" Blake wasn't sure where she was going with this.

So what if she asked her sister to forgive herself?

So what if she wanted to comfort the person that's been by her side all these years?

Weiss was her sister.

She'd do anything to spare her the pain Blake had experienced for all those years.

It was only natural.

"So," Ruby went on. "Because of your pleas, Weiss has allowed herself to find happiness. She chose to do that with Yang."

"What's your point?" Blake droned.

"You're a great sister," the leader informed. "You're a great _person_. You told the entire team something you've kept hidden even from your family for years to benefit a loved one in her time of need. That speaks volumes of who you are."

Blake's eyes started to water when she was called a person. She still wasn't used to the idea of her being human, but she found complete solace with her team.

To her surprise, Ruby's own tears were falling.

"H-hey!" Blake's voice raised in urgency. "Why're you crying?"

"The despair you've felt for all this time must've been horrible," Ruby sniffled. "I wish I could've been there with you the entire way."

Blake knew her leader was a caring person, but this was borderline criminal.

"Please," Ruby begged. "Take your own advice. Try not to blame yourself and allow yourself to be happy."

"How?" Blake grasped Ruby's hand, her lips trembling. "How can I possibly be happy?"

Amber met silver in a silent answer.

Ruby started to lean in slowly. "Just give yourself…"

Blake didn't know what she was doing, her body acted on its own as she leaned in gradually.

All those years of suffering…

Was it really possible?

To forgive herself?

Being with Ruby made her feel like she could. Just being around her leader made her forget her worries.

"... a..."

As the two got closer, both of their eyes drifted shut. Blake was so close she could smell Ruby's signature strawberry aroma, a thing she invited wholeheartedly.

"... chance…"

Before they knew it, their lips had entwined. Just like that, all of their worries were erased as they kissed.

The only thing that mattered right now was each other.

Ruby had waited what seemed like forever for this moment, but she didn't mind. As long as she was with Blake, she was happy.

Their hearts were racing as the kiss continued like waves crashing on a beach.

Ruby almost couldn't believe this was actually happening, but was reassured it was when she kept tasting Blake. She tasted like sweet vanilla and it was intoxicating in the best way possible.

Each pair of lips were soft and Blake wasn't surprised at all to find Ruby's lips tasted like strawberry.

After several moments, they hesitantly separated. Both girls were flushed crimson as silver and amber remained fixed on each other's faces.

Ruby was on cloud nine until she realized there was a small wet trail down Blake's cheek.

"Blake," Ruby called worriedly. "Why're you crying?!"

Blake's eyes widened in disbelief. She didn't even realize a few rivulets had rolled down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry…" Blake murmured. "I'm just so happy..."

That was probably the first time in Blake's life she'd ever cried tears of happiness and joy.

The previous were always full of sorrow.

From the reply, Ruby sighed in relief. "Me too. You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that."

"Ruby," Blake grabbed her hand. "If I'm going to give this happiness thing a chance, will you, uh…"

"... be my girlfriend?" Ruby finished for her.

"Wow," Blake droned. "Thanks for finishing that line for me."

"No problem!" Ruby chirped with glee.

"But uh… would you?" Blake asked for clarification.

"Blake," Ruby deadpanned. "I've literally had a crush on you since the first day we met. Saying no to you would be like saying no to cookies."

"W-wait," Blake stammered. "You've liked me for that long? And did you just compare me to cookies?"

"Yep!" Ruby beamed. "It's okay though, the wait was totally worth it."

Blake snuggled her head into the crook of Ruby's neck. "Thank you for waiting all this time."

Ruby remembered when Blake gave her the cold shoulder a lot of the time when they first met. Blake felt compelled to back then, considering their sisters always argued and almost punched each other's lights out on multiple occasions.

"My pleasure," Ruby murmured into Blake's sensitive cat ear.

The whisper caused a pleasant shiver to roll up her spine. The two held hands and stayed like that for a few minutes. They enjoyed the calm courtyard in the darkness. It was completely silent besides their calm heartbeats.

Fondly, Blake caressed her new girlfriend's cheek and wiped away a stray bang.

Blake looked up at Ruby and leaned in, silently asking for another kiss.

Ruby was more than happy to comply as she leaned in.

The sweet and passionate contact was filled with more vigor. Their hands refused to leave each other's grasp, not even for a second.

The sensual contact sent currents rushing through their bodies.

They were so into it that they didn't notice someone approach them.

"I hope I'm not interrupting," a man's voice chimed.

The kissing duo immediately jumped apart and gasped at the new arrival. They hastily stood in a fluster with adrenaline pumping.

"H-headmaster Ozpin!" Ruby greeted. "W-what're you doing out here this late?"

Ozpin sipped his coffee mug, not showing he was affected at all by his students' passionate moment.

"I could ask you the same thing, Ms. Rose," Ozpin said evenly. "Ms. Schnee," he greeted.

"Hello, sir," Blake replied formally, her cheeks still flushed.

Ozpin sensed the two were anxious from his presence and went on. "I'm out here to watch for the intoxicated student. Who knows when they'll drop another chocolate hot dog."

The ladybug pair struggled to stifle their laughter. The fact that he said that so casually with a stern expression made it all the more hilarious.

"Good luck with that!" Ruby exclaimed. "We were just leaving."

Blake faintly smiled at the man and then grasped Ruby's hand. "Have a good night, sir."

"You as well, Ms. Schnee and Ms. Rose. Get some rest," Ozpin said as he watched the two walk away.

Ruby and Blake held hands as they entered Beacon, not afraid to show off that they were now an item, even though no one was around.

Before Ruby twisted the doorknob to their room, she sent a wry grin at Blake.

"You're really great at walking."

Blake laughed in mirth, something she hadn't done in a long time.

* * *

 **Yay! Ladybug is together!**

" **Who knows when they'll drop another chocolate hot dog"- ladies and gents, the wise words of headmaster Ozpin.**

 **In case you forgot, that last line was a throwback to when Ruby and Blake ran into each other in Beacon's bathroom (chapter 9). Ruby was a nervous wreck and wanted to compliment something about her and she blurted out that line on accident. Props to you if you remembered!**

 ***flashback to chapter 9***

 **Ruby: "W-wait!"**

 _ **Say she has pretty hair!**_

 **Blake held the door open to hear what she had to say.**

 **Ruby: "You're really great at walking!"**

 _ **What the HECK brain?! That's not what I wanted to say!**_

" **Um…" the aristocrat mumbled. "Thanks?" she proceeded to take her leave and let the door shut.**

 **Ruby leaned over the sink and her head dropped in shame, smacking it repeatedly against the edge.**

" **Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!"**

 ***End of flashback***

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	69. Girlfriends Like to Cuddle

**Happy New Year! I'ma week late but who's counting. I hope you have a dandy 2018! Did you kick it off with a Yang?**

* * *

That night, the ladybug pair slept in Blake's bed together. Understandably, they didn't want to be separated after becoming an item and planned to tell their sisters that they were girlfriends the next morning.

Surprisingly, Yang was the first to wake up. Her bleary lilac eyes stared across the room and she noticed Ruby wasn't in her bed.

The blonde held back a gasp and shot up in full protective sister mode. Her adrenaline was pumping as she leapt out of her top bunk and landed on the floor with a thump. The jump caused her sleeping girlfriend to stir, so she strolled over to ease her nerves.

"Hey princess," Yang greeted.

Weiss groaned in annoyance and sat up slowly, wiping the fatigue from her eyes. Yang almost forgot why she woke up in the first place when she took in the sight. Her frazzled white hair was draped over her shoulders and frazzled bangs covered part of her face, for once not put up in a side ponytail. The heiress was so relaxed. It was like she was a different person.

The blonde sat on the edge of her bed and she cracked a small smile. "How ya doin' sleepyhead?"

"Good," Weiss tiredly replied after a yawn. "Why did you wake me up?"

Yang almost squealed from the action, it was like her girlfriend was a little kitten! What compelled her to think that even further was the fact that her fangs weren't retracted. Yang was glad for that, she gathered Weiss was finally starting to unwind in the room and around her team.

Except Blake was the team's kitten. Yang nodded to herself, knowing someone could never take her partner's catty-ness away from the team.

"Remnant to the brute?" Weiss called out.

"O-oh um…" Yang pondered. "Oh! Have you seen Rubes? She's not in her bed."

Weiss casually caught a glimpse behind her girlfriend, directly at Blake's bunk.

She wasn't shocked at all to see Blake and Ruby spooning in her vampire sister's bed.

She knew they cuddled in the same bed before, but she didn't know how often that was. The first time they cuddled at night, Ruby had retreated back to her bed before her team woke up to start the day.

They looked so peaceful, it reminded Weiss of how she felt when she slept next to her girlfriend. The last thing she wanted was to wake the pair, but that might be impossible with how worried Yang was.

Weiss couldn't pry her eyes away from the slumbering duo, something Yang didn't miss.

Yang was about to spin around, but Weiss stopped her in time.

"She's not in the room right now," the heiress said. "We can look for her later."

"What?!" Yang yelped. "My Rubes is missing?!"

Yang tore out of her grasp and was about to turn around again, but Weiss swung her arms around her neck and pulled her in for a kiss to distract her.

Oh, she knew how'd she react if she saw the scene.

Yang's eyes were wide open at first because that was unexpected. She gave a slight squeal, but it was muffled as their lips entwined. It didn't take Yang long to melt into the sweet contact.

Meanwhile, Weiss stared directly behind her girlfriend and noticed that the ladybug pair was awake.

Ruby and Blake had wide eyes and flushed faces. They were deathly still as they watched the kiss take place.

Weiss signaled for them to get out of bed before Yang turned around.

But it was too late.

The blonde knew something was up and no matter how much she didn't want to, broke apart from the kiss. Weiss tried to grab her frantically again, but Yang whipped around with no warning.

In a split second, her lilac eyes shifted red.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

Blake and Ruby shrieked in surprise, pulling the blankets over their bodies. They knew a few sheets wouldn't provide protection, but it made them feel safe.

In a fury, Yang slowly approached the pair, her red eyes fuming. After hopping out of bed, Weiss quickly stepped in between her furious girlfriend and the distressed pair.

"Hey!" Weiss shouted and grabbed Yang's arm soothingly. "You need to calm down!"

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Yang yelled. "How the hell can I be calm when my baby sister is in the same bed with someone else?!"

"W-we didn't do anything I promise!" Blake defended.

"Yeah right," the blonde didn't buy it and punched her two fists together as an intimidation tactic. "What the hell's goin' on?"

This compelled Weiss to soothe her fingers through the blonde mane. That sometimes eased her girlfriend's nerves. It seemed to work, if only a little.

"It's true, Yang," Ruby timidly said. "We're in the same bed because uh…"

"We're girlfriends," Blake said evenly. "And sometimes girlfriends like to cuddle."

Yang was taken aback by the revelation. Her furious red eyes shifted to the gentle lilac Weiss had grown to love. Yang took a deep breath and carefully calculated the pair, not sure if they were telling the truth.

"You should know by now that girlfriends like to cuddle," Weiss said levelly.

"W-wait," Ruby said. "You're not surprised?"

"Me?" Weiss pointed to herself, to which Ruby nodded. "No, I'm not. I was awake during one of the times you two slept together, although I'm not sure if you were a couple back then."

"We weren't," Blake said, her cheeks red. "I was just… having a hard time."

Weiss sadly remembered the heartbreaking sniffles coming from her sister that night.

"It sounded like it," the heiress said sorrowfully. "I was going to comfort you, but that dolt beat me to it."

Ruby gave her a giddy grin and a thumbs up.

Yang was silent, weighing their words. Weiss sent her cool aura pulsing through Yang's body in an attempt to soothe her girlfriend. The method seemed to work as the blonde took calm breaths.

Blake and Ruby felt awkward since they were still in the bed, so they hopped out with smiles.

"Sorry, Yang," Ruby apologized. "We became a couple last night and we were gonna tell you guys, but we were more tired than we thought."

Yang ignored her sister and sauntered over to Blake. The blood-faunus felt a bit intimidated by her partner, considering this was her baby sister she was concerned for.

"You promise you won't hurt her?"

The aristocrat knew her partner was just acting like any sibling would. In her heart, she knew Yang had absolutely nothing to worry about. She was glad their sibling bond was like her and Weiss' bond. It didn't matter for either pair of sisters that they weren't fully or partially related.

They were sisters no matter what.

"I swear," Blake said without a second thought. "I-I've liked her for a while, but didn't say anything…"

"Welp," the blonde said. "If anyone should date my Rubes, it should be you. She couldn't stop talking about you since day one."

She meant every word. Blake had put a smile on Ruby's face since the day they first met. She saw how happy she made her sister feel as the year went by. Even though they weren't a couple the whole time, they sometimes acted like it.

A blush crept on Blake's face as she faced Ruby. "You weren't kidding about having a crush on me this whole time."

"Nope!" Ruby beamed.

The heiress sighed in relief. "I'm glad that worked out."

She worried Yang would attack her sister for indecency and for jumping to conclusions. Her girlfriend wasn't exactly the best at thinking things through, but she held her temper this time, something she was proud of.

"You almost knocked Blake's lights out," Weiss playfully flicked Yang's forehead.

"I'd never do that!" Yang defended. "I'd just… calmly punch her."

Yang couldn't deny she wouldn't use physical violence, but she certainly wouldn't do anything drastic to her partner.

Weiss flailed her arms in exasperation. "That's the same thing! Besides," she huffed. "If you tried to hurt her you'd have to go through me."

Blake grinned from the comment. She was supposed to be the bodyguard, but her vampire sister was just as, if not more protective of her.

"Arf!"

Everyone looked down at Zwei, who somehow joined the conversation.

"And Zwei," Weiss corrected.

"I was joking!" Yang exclaimed and pulled Blake in for a hug, stroking her black hair. "I could never hurt this kitten."

Blake purred from the contact, accepting it wholeheartedly. Any signs of Yang being upset were completely erased as she leaned into her soothingly.

Ruby's eyes lingered to the clock on the wall. "Ah!" Ruby yelped, which caused her team to gasp. "We're late for class!"

"Shit!" Yang cursed and the two separated.

The team rushed to do their morning rituals while Zwei watched in boredom. The little corgi had curled up in Weiss' bed as he watched his companions dart out the door. He didn't mind he didn't get a goodbye, they seemed like they were in a big rush.

The team sprinted down the hallway to head to Ms. Goodwitch's combat class. For fun, Ruby grabbed Blake's waist and propelled both of them forward with her speed semblance. Blake shrieked all the while, completely caught off guard from the events.

Yang and Weiss were left in the dust. Yang sent Weiss a wink, causing Weiss to conjure a glyph beneath herself and her girlfriend. It didn't take the two long to catch up to the ladybug pair.

They arrived the second the bell chimed. All four were panting, something Glynda glowered at. She didn't like it when her students were almost tardy. The team took their seats and settled down, with the vampire sisters sipping on their blood tablet water as usual.

The actual class was slightly less amusing than usual. Today's sparring match was Sky Lark vs Lie Ren. As they watched the match, team RWBY kept thinking about Sky's former leader, Cardin. They made a decision to wait for Sky after class to question him about Cardin's whereabouts, even though they'd rather be doing other things.

Still, Winchester had been on the vampire sisters' minds occasionally and now they were genuinely curious as to where he was.

The match was pretty close, but Ren won due to his agility and his nimbleness, something Sky lacked.

Once class ended, team RWBY waited outside the doors. It was easy to spot Lark since his hair was a dark blue pallor. When Sky walked out the classroom, he was greeted with a tap on the shoulder.

"Hey Sky," Ruby greeted. "What's up?"

"What do you want?" Sky asked, wanting to get to the bottom of it.

He'd never talked to any of them before, so he was more curious what they wanted more than anything.

"Where's Cardin?" Weiss cut to the chase. "We haven't seen him in a while."

"Hell if I know," Sky shrugged, anger in his tone. "The bastard left us."

"So you don't know where he is?" Yang questioned.

"No," Lark informed. "He just vanished without telling my team. Some leader he is."

It was clear to them that Sky harbored a grudge against Cardin for suddenly leaving his team. They couldn't do anything about it, but it upset them as well. A student, much less a leader abandoning Beacon was almost unheard of.

"Why do you care anyway?" Sky asked. "I don't think I ever saw him talk to any of you."

"That's none of your business," the heiress snapped.

The last thing she wanted was an attitude from Lark. Just talking to the boy sent unpleasant shivers up her spine and she was running out of patience for this kind of thing. The point was to find out where Cardin was, so if he had no clue, then they were done talking to him and the rest of the conversation was needless chit-chat.

Sky looked like he was about to retort, but Yang stepped in. "Okay, thanks for your time! We're gonna go now."

The blonde coaxed Weiss down the hall without resistance from her girlfriend, with Blake and Ruby following.

Before Sky was out of sight, Ruby said, "Thank you," to him.

Ruby felt bad for leaving the conversation at that, so the least she could do was thank him for his time. Lark simply rolled his eyes and headed back to his room.

Now team RWBY were back in their room and the cute little corgi greeted them eagerly. Ruby knelt down and rubbed his belly, cooing in his ear all the while.

"Now we know," Yang said, knowing it was safe to talk now that they were away from Sky. "He left the school."

"I wonder why…" Blake mumbled. "I don't like this."

"It's okay, kitten," Yang assured. "Maybe he just realized a hunter's life wasn't suited for him."

"No," Weiss disagreed. "It suited him far too well."

Ruby stood after she pet the corgi. "What do you mean?"

"Something must have happened to him," Weiss concluded. "None of this makes sense."

Cardin liked to pick on the weak. He wanted to grow as a hunter to do exactly that and become more powerful than he already was. His pureblood genes already provided an edge and he was starting to get greedy.

If anything, Cardin would definitely finish his enrollment at Beacon.

He'd want to achieve that goal more than anyone.

Weiss couldn't put her finger on it. There was no logical explanation as to why he would leave. Something _had_ to have happened to him.

The team stood there in thought, but then the chime of a scroll broke the silence, which prompted Zwei to bark a few times.

Ruby pulled her scroll out of her pocket and checked the caller ID.

"Who is it, Rubes?" Yang asked.

Ruby smiled at the name on her screen and slid the 'answer call' button.

"It's Qrow!"

* * *

 **Whaaaaat's going on behind the scenes?**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	70. An Animal Watching Us

**Starting this off by saying THANK YOU! LMH has hit the big 500! When this first started posting I never expected this much support. So thank you for the overwhelming support and wonderful reviews :) Love you all and hope you stay just as dandy as the day you started reading this fic :D**

* * *

Ruby held out her scroll so her teammates could be in the video as she answered the call.

"Hey, uncle Qrow!" Ruby chirped happily. "Did you need something?"

Qrow playfully rolled his eyes. "Can't I check on my kiddos without an ulterior motive?"

"Hey, Qrow," Blake greeted. "It's nice to see you."

"Yes," Weiss agreed. "It's been a while."

The last time the team saw him was when he was with Winter, the dreary day she died. It was odd to see him alone, he looked so out of place.

Winter was always with him. The two never left each other's sides. As they gazed at him, they were pretty sure he was a different person and couldn't figure out why.

"It has," Qrow said solemnly. "Has everything been going well? Are you getting along?"

Qrow had ties to all four of them and was a constant presence in their lives, so they all looked up to him like a mentor, even though he was drunk half the time. Although, he wasn't drinking anything currently, so that raised a few brows.

"It's been going more than well," Ruby informed.

"Oh?" Qrow asked in amusement. "How?"

"Blake and I are uh…" Ruby couldn't even finish her sentence as her cheeks heated up.

"We're girlfriends," Blake said, her face as red as Ruby's cape.

Hearing it seemed like a dream to the leader. She still couldn't believe she was actually Blake's girlfriend, so to hear her say it…

It was like a dream come true.

Qrow smiled from the news and opened his mouth. "Wilford! Wilhelmina! Get your asses in here!"

The four held their ears from the sudden outburst. Zwei barked in response to the raised voice and hid behind the team.

"Jeez, Qrow!" the heiress chided. "Are you trying to make us deaf?!"

"To be fair," Yang said. "Your voice is deadlier."

"At least I give you a warning," the heiress huffed, causing Zwei to yip.

The little corgi made himself at home in Weiss' lap as he stared at the video on the scroll, his ears perked up. From what he could tell, Qrow seemed happy, but showed subtle hints of sadness.

Soon enough, the pureblood parents showed up and stood next to Qrow. They were glad to see the team was in high spirits after everything they've been through.

"Blake and Ruby are a thing," Qrow informed them.

Yang snickered, knowing Qrow had picked that line up from her.

Wilhelmina gasped. "Blake, is this true?"

"Yeah," the blood-faunus informed. "She makes me very happy."

Wilford cracked a smile as he watched Ruby sling her arm around Blake's shoulders. "I'm so glad."

"What about you, firecracker?" Qrow asked. "Is there anyone special?" he casually glanced at Weiss, perking an amused eyebrow, showing he had his suspicions.

"Me and Weiss are dating, too!" Yang happily beamed.

From the reply, Wilford frowned and Wilhelmina was frozen in place. Weiss knew what the problem was, her father still didn't know she wasn't a pureblood. The last thing Weiss wanted to do was to put her parents' marriage in jeopardy, so she elected to keep quiet about it.

"Weiss," Wilford stated, force in his tone. "You know you have a duty to your pureblood line."

Wilhelmina was dangerously silent and Qrow simply watched for their reactions.

The heiress took a deep breath. "I know."

Her teammates were shocked. Did Weiss plan not to tell her father that she was actually an aristocrat? They understood it would put the marriage in danger, but it'd be much easier if her father knew it was impossible to carry on the pureblood line.

Wilhelmina was the most baffled. She couldn't figure out for the life of her as to why her daughter was keeping quiet about it. After all Wilhelmina put her through, she thought for sure Weiss would at least try to tell Wilford.

Weiss knew it was for the best. After being with Yang and learning so much by her side, she realized hurting the present was something she wanted to avoid at all costs.

"Then what are you doing with a human?" Wilford almost spat. "You've known since birth that being a pureblood requires responsibilities."

Weiss flinched from the raised voice. Zwei noticed she was distressed and gently nudged his paw on her side, something she was grateful for. Yang didn't like the way she was yelled at, but then Ruby cut in.

"Sir," the leader said politely. "The issue is that she has to have a baby with Cardin, right?"

Ruby was well aware that Weiss carrying on the pureblood line would be impossible, but she wanted to help her partner if she could. From Weiss' stiffened body language, Ruby decided to not say a word about her partner being an aristocrat and obeyed her wishes.

"Yes," Wilford said solemnly. "That is her duty to her race."

"Cardin has vanished, sir," the leader informed. "No one has seen him since the night Cinder attacked us."

Mr. Schnee seemed to weigh her words, obviously looking troubled.

"That doesn't mean he's dead," Mr. Schnee replied. "He's probably smart and in hiding, and if he is, you," he pointed to Yang. "Have no right to be with my daughter."

That made Yang's eye twitch in irritation, but she kept her cool.

"Wilford," Yang stated.

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose, whatever her girlfriend had to say, that certainly wasn't the right way to start it. Mr. Schnee perked an eyebrow at the call of his name.

"With all due respect," the blonde started. "Do you think Weiss would be happy if she had a baby with that asshole?"

"I know she wouldn't be," Wilford admitted, not at all affected by how forward she was acting. "But then what else are we supposed to do?"

"Dad," Weiss cut in and took a deep breath. "I'm the last pureblood capable of reproducing. If Cardin and I had a baby, what do you think would happen to it?"

Wilford remained silent, processing her words.

"Our offspring wouldn't be able to find a mate," Weiss informed. "They would be the last of the pureblood line. Because of that, even if Cardin is alive, I don't think reproducing with him would be a good choice. I'd rather be the last of the pureblood line instead of pushing that burden onto the baby."

Wilhelmina knew what her daughter was saying was partly true. The pureblood line would die out eventually, but she still didn't understand why Weiss was also lying through her teeth to cover up her own selfish tracks.

Wilford heaved a sigh. "Until we know where Cardin is, I suppose you can be with Yang."

"Oh, papa Schnee… silly papa Schnee..." Yang slung her arm around Weiss' shoulders. "We were gonna do that anyways!"

Blake audibly facepalmed. "Yang, don't push it."

The blonde couldn't help but smile. She knew her and Weiss were crazy about each other. Plus, she knew Weiss wasn't a pureblood, the one thing Wilford wasn't aware of. So she really had nothing to fear.

Wilford didn't seem to want to argue. "Until we know where Cardin is, treat her right. Treat both of them right."

It was good enough for now.

"That doesn't even need to be said," Yang replied. "Don't worry 'bout a thing."

"Leave it to us!" Ruby beamed.

"Alright, I will," he glanced at Qrow and then to his daughters. "Love you."

"Love you," Weiss smiled, still a bit unsettled.

"Love you," Blake breathed a sigh of relief when he let out of view of the camera.

Wilhelmina sent Weiss a pleading look before she dawdled behind her husband, murmuring calming reassurances in his ear.

"Guys," Qrow cut in. "Could all of you go to the hallway for a sec?"

Ruby gave him a weird look. "Why?"

"Just do it," Qrow demanded in a tone no one could fight with.

"Um… okay," Yang said uneasily.

It was an odd request, but the team compiled. After Ruby peppered Zwei with kisses, they walked to the hallway and Weiss shut the door. The team leaned against the wall on JNPR's side of the hall and sat down to get comfortable as Ruby held her scroll out.

"Why are we out here?" Ruby asked curiously. "Is something wrong?"

Qrow leaned into the camera. "Listen and listen good," he whispered harshly.

The four leaned in with urgency, knowing Qrow meant business.

"What is it?" Blake murmured.

"Your room is bugged," Qrow said with certainty.

From the information, the team gasped in surprise.

"W-what?!" Ruby yelped. "H-how?"

"Keep it down," Qrow demanded. "I don't know how far the bug can hear."

The team went dead silent.

"When Winter and I set out to find Cinder…" Qrow started and took a deep breath. "Mercury said something that bothered me. I wanted to wipe the smirk off the bastard's face, so I told him they got dominated back when they tried to kill you," he glanced at Weiss, making her look guilty. "Then he said, 'tell that to your niece.' As far as I know, no one really knows Ruby is my niece."

People knew Ruby was his niece, but it wasn't a well-known fact. It definitely wasn't something a stranger should know.

If what he was saying is true, the enemy had a lot of intel on the team. This included Weiss not being a pureblood. Who knows what other kinds of advantages the enemy had because of an extra set of ears.

Weiss' heart sank to her stomach, she felt sick. The enemy had been gathering information on them this whole time! No wonder they had the upper hand the night of the dance. They were in the ballroom, not their actual room when they planned what to do.

Blake leaned in slowly, her voice low. "You think our room is bugged based on that one clue alone?"

"Yes, and I think it was Cinder," Qrow informed, his voice even. "When we fought her, she seemed extremely intelligent and very powerful. Even Winter sensed something was off-putting about the woman. What I'm trying to say is that bugging your room is something she would do."

The vampires' stomachs twisted in a knot. If Winter, an extremely powerful pureblood, took caution around the enemy, she must be a force to be reckoned with. Beads of sweat rolled down their faces from the new information.

"W-what do we do?" Ruby frantically asked.

The fact that someone had been listening to them this whole time set her nerves on edge. If anyone knew what to do, it would be her uncle.

"Look for the bug and kill it," Qrow said obviously. "And be careful. Don't worry, I have a plan."

"What do you want us to do?" Weiss asked, her voice calm.

"Go back in the room and agree with everything I say, no matter what. Got it?"

"Uh yeah," Yang nodded.

"Everything I'm about to say is true and it's what I want you to do," Qrow informed. "And don't act weird, she'll know something's up. When we hang up, act natural and look for the bug. But before you go in the room, there's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?" Blake perked up.

Qrow's smile was one of sorrow mixed with happiness. The team couldn't tell which and Qrow also looked pretty tired. Which was even more strange, considering he wasn't drinking either.

"There's someone we want you to meet," Qrow stared at all four of them. "Someone all of you need to meet."

The four were fully paying attention from the comment. Someone they needed to meet?

"Who?" Weiss asked, speaking everyone's thoughts.

"Let's just say you will be overjoyed," Qrow said levelly.

They could tell he was fond of the person he spoke of.

"Okay," Ruby was so confused but sensed her uncle didn't want to linger on the subject for too long.

"Now get in there," Qrow stated.

Ruby nodded and gulped as she led her team back into the room. It was supposed to be a safe haven from the outside, now it just felt like a danger zone they were trapped in.

All this time…

They were being watched.

It was hard to process.

Like normal, Zwei happily greeted the team again. As usual, Weiss, Yang, and Ruby peppered him with kisses all along his snout and head. Blake simply pat his back and sauntered by, electing to sit in the middle of the room before her teammates followed suit.

"Kiddos," Qrow started, his voice booming loudly. "I want you to come home soon."

"Wait what?" Yang asked, perplexed.

"Firecracker, troublemaker," Qrow called. "I need you to come to the castle. That includes Weiss and Blake."

"We can't just leave Beacon," Weiss said. "Final exams are coming up."

Her three teammates gave her a look, did she forget about just accepting what he says? No, the heiress was that hellbent on getting a good grade. The team also gathered they'd meet this mystery person while they were there.

"Think of it as a break before that shitstorm happens," Qrow replied. "I want you to bring him too."

"Arf!"

"See?" Qrow asked. "He wants to go."

Zwei eagerly sat in Yang's lap, wagging his stubby tail all the while. The blonde beamed a grin, happy at the thought of visiting her girlfriend's home. She rubbed the little corgi's back and itched his belly as his tongue lolled to the side.

Blake sighed, looks like it was finally time for her team and dog to see the castle. "Alright. How long will we be there?"

"A few days at most. Gotta go now," Qrow said. "Have fun kiddos."

"Goodbye!" Yang waved goodbye.

"Bye, Qrow!" the vampire sisters said in unison.

"Love you!" Ruby happily chirped.

"Later," Qrow quipped.

Finally, Ruby hung up.

The four gazed amongst themselves in silence, knowing what they had to do next. They immediately stood from the floor and started to look for the bug. Even Zwei began to sniff around when he noticed his companions were searching for something. He didn't know what he was looking for but figured any help would be appreciated.

To make things seem normal, Ruby said. "Do you guys wanna work on some assignments?"

Blake's entire body was shoved under her bunk. It was easy to see without proper light due to her faunus senses. Her arms glided around the carpet and came up empty.

"Good one," the aristocrat replied, forced amusement in her tone.

She pulled out the secret backpack under her bed and began tossing the contents to the side, looking for anything suspicious.

Blake's reply caused Yang to snicker as she threw out her clothes from her drawers. Not just her drawers, but she searched her other three teammates' as well, something that ticked Weiss off, but she had to allow it, knowing the bug could be anywhere.

When Yang was done, clothing scattered all over the room and covered the carpet. The room was like a splash of red, white, black, and yellow when she was done tossing every fabric out. She then hunted for the bug in each empty drawer.

Weiss removed the clothes on top of the rug. She carefully lifted the rug and shook it, expecting a small piece of metal to fall out. The results were disappointing when nothing flopped out and nothing was under the rug.

"Ruby," Weiss called. "Where'd you put your cookies?"

The leader knew it was just idle talk, so she humored her partner.

"Under your pillow of course!"

Blake smirked. "I thought they were in your stupid lady pockets, or whatever you call them," she carefully lifted the poster and probed the wall. She came up empty and frowned in disappointment.

"They are stupid!" Ruby yelped as she glided her hand in between the books on the bookshelf.

The leader noticed Blake seemed nervous when she went through her book collection, but Blake quickly dismissed it, knowing it was something Ruby had to do.

"How 'bout I make ya bigger pockets, Rubes?" Yang teased. "That way, you can hoard as many cookies as you want!" the blonde probed the red curtain in front of the window. Each finger slowly scanned the fabric and she frowned when she didn't feel or see anything strange.

"I am not a hoarder!" Ruby yelped.

"But you do have a cookie problem," Weiss pointed out, now checking behind the painting she brought to Beacon.

Ruby was starting to get frustrated in the search, but then stifled a gasp when she felt a hard-tiny piece of something in the last book.

"No, I don't," Ruby mumbled absentmindedly.

She cautiously removed the book, her adrenaline pumping. She flipped through the pages with wide silver eyes. Soon enough, in one of the last pages, a little black dot fell out safely in her palm. Her eyes narrowed in frustration as she fiddled with it on her bug looked almost exactly like the mini earpieces they'd previously used.

Now that she had evidence, how _dare_ the enemy invade their privacy!

If it was just Ruby, she would've been fine with it, but this was _her_ team that was in danger.

She didn't even care that Cinder almost killed her once before.

She cared that her teammates, her best friends, lingered in danger under Cinder's threat.

Now she had a bone to pick with her.

Ruby clenched her jaw in anger as she moved the tiny chip to the middle of her palm.

 _Not today._

She tightened her fist, causing a satisfying crunch sound to ring out as the equipment shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces.

* * *

 **If you remember, back in chapter 37, yeah that long ago, Emerald planted the bug in their room! Dundun… DUN!**

 **Chapter 37's A/N was: "But maybe 'an animal watching us' now, takes a vow. Someday we will bring them down." -AmaLee's version of Let Me Hear. "Someday we will bring them down" was the ending quote to 37.**

 **It all connects.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	71. Proper Manners

**Check out the RWBY vol5 finale! Uh so cute and sweet and my heart is so full. Can't wait for volume 6!**

* * *

Ruby had successfully found and crushed the bug that was planted in her team's room. The team knew they were safe for the time being, but after realizing they were being watched this whole time, they were at unease.

The next day, they were still anxious that the enemy was watching their every move, but there was no more evidence that was the case.

Ruby noticed her team was still on edge during class. She guessed it really was a good idea to leave a couple of weeks before final exams. They could use a break and then get back on track with their education once the whole thing blows over.

Directly after the lecture, team RWBY had an appointment scheduled with headmaster Ozpin regarding leaving Beacon for a few days. Ruby knew it would be difficult to convince him to let them leave since finals were coming up, but she had a plan in mind.

Currently, team RWBY was standing outside the headmaster's office.

Ruby set her hand on the doorknob and glanced at her team. "Remember the plan."

The three nodded and the leader could see the sheer determination glimmering in their eyes.

Nothing would get in their way to go to the castle.

Not even Ozpin.

Ruby twisted the knob after taking a deep breath.

The four stepped into his office and took in their surroundings. The room hadn't changed since they were last in it. It was pretty big and had a giant half-circle window at the end of the room. Ozpin's desk was directly in front of the window, in the shape of a half circle as well. The fancy chair was facing outside, where the transparent window showed the sun's rays beaming brightly on the school.

"Uhhhh," Yang glanced around the room. "Anyone in here?"

The chair suddenly spun around to show Ozpin, who was sipping his usual coffee. "Hello ladies, take a seat."

"Dramatic entrance much?" Yang mumbled.

Weiss nudged Yang in the ribs, eliciting a grunt.

The four took a seat in front of Ozpin. His poker face never changed, something the team found strange.

"What is the purpose of this appointment today?" Ozpin asked his students.

"We'd like to leave Beacon for a few days," Ruby informed. "I know it's not good timing, considering exams are coming up and all, but we really won't be gone for a long time and my team could desperately use a break right now and there's someone we gotta meet and there's a lot of stuff happening and-"

Ozpin cut her off. "Very well."

"Wait, what?" Blake asked. "You're just going to let us go?"

"Ms. Rose said it won't be for long, yes?" he glanced at Ruby.

"W-we uh, don't know exactly how long," Ruby admitted. "But it shouldn't be more than a few days."

"As long as you get back in time to take your exams and catch up on any missed assignments, I see no issue," Ozpin said evenly. "Just be careful."

The four sat there and weighed his words, wondering why he said to 'be careful.' But they didn't want to question him and possibly change his mind, so they simply nodded.

"When will your team depart?" Ozpin asked.

"Later tonight," Weiss informed. "We have an airship scheduled to pick us up and we'll head to the northern part of Vale."

"Alright, have safe travels," Ozpin leaned back in his chair. "You may leave now."

The team stood and took their leave, still wondering why he let them go so easily. After shutting the large double doors, there was a satisfying click that rang out.

Ozpin sighed and spun around to his left. He wasn't surprised to see someone lurking in the shadows.

"Why did you let them go that easily?" the woman asked.

"It's something they must do, Glynda," Ozpin said solemnly. "Besides," he took a sip of his coffee. "Those four had a particularly rough year."

Glynda sighed and sauntered over to his desk, sitting directly in front of the man. "I hope they do well."

"Trust is key," Ozpin's eyes flickered red for a moment. "They'll be fine."

* * *

Once again, team RWBY found themselves in Nora's secret pancake room.

Luckily, Nora had made pancakes beforehand and currently, the two teams were eating the delicious treats.

All but the vampire sisters, but they didn't mind they couldn't eat the food one bit, so long as they could spend time with friends.

"Why're you guys leaving before exams?" Jaune was curious. "It's kind of bad timing, don't you think?"

Pyrrha swallowed her food before speaking. "It must be for a good reason, but we are interested in the reason."

"We have to meet someone," Weiss informed levelly.

"Who?" Ren asked, genuinely interested.

"We don't know!" Yang flailed her arms in emphasis. "It better be someone special or important because otherwise, the trip will be for nothing. Well, besides meeting their parents," he pointed to Weiss and Blake. "That's gonna be pretty cool."

"Don't blow it," the heiress murmured.

Yang caught the mutter and beamed her girlfriend a grin. "Don't worry 'bout a thing."

"Wait, you don't know who you're meeting?" Jaune asked, clearly skeptical. "You don't know why you're even leaving?"

"We do," Ruby replied. "We just dunno if it'll be worth it."

"It will be," Pyrrha decided, causing everyone to focus on her. "Think about it, if it's someone you must meet right away, they must be special."

Yang used her fork to play with the leftover pieces of pancake, her hand under her chin. "To be honest, I just wanna see the castle."

"Castle?!" Nora almost did a spit take. "You guys live in a castle?!"

Blake playfully rolled her eyes. "Here we go again…"

"It's just a building," the heiress said. "People exaggerate the size."

Blake gave her sister a look.

"What?"

The aristocrat simply sighed, her cat ears flicking.

Of course Weiss didn't know the home was different. She had lived in various mansions and castles her entire life while Blake only had one humble home before moving in. To Blake, that place was more of a palace, she'd never gotten used to the size and how impressive it was.

"Can we go too?" Jaune asked. "I've never seen a castle before!"

"No," Weiss deadpanned.

"Aw…" Jaune pouted and went back to his pancakes.

The heiress noticed Yang was still playing with her food. She grabbed Yang's fork, which earned a yelp.

"Hey!" the blonde yelped. "I was usin' that!"

"You need to learn proper manners if you're ever going to meet my parents," Weiss sighed and set the fork on the opposite side of the table. "Rule number one, don't play with your food."

Now it was Yang's turn to pout. "Aw… but that's no fun!"

Blake grabbed a napkin and set in on Ruby's lap. "Rule number two, always have a napkin on your lap, even if the food hasn't met the table."

The heiress snickered now that her sister was going along with it. "Rule number three, for dust's sake," she grabbed Yang's shoulder and set a hand on her back, straightening her posture. "Have straight posture."

Little did they know, team JNPR was following what they were saying, but Pyrrha already nailed those three things.

As Weiss and Blake grew up together, they were taught proper manners by their pureblood parents mainly to behave well at the vampire balls their parents threw. Winter helped with the lessons too, but she received training along with them sometimes.

"Rule number four," Blake stated. "Don't start eating until everyone's food is served. It's rude to eat early."

"But you guys can't even eat pancakes!" Ruby yelped.

Nora gasped. "I still can't believe you have made it this far in life without pancakes!" she straddled Blake's shoulders. "How do you survive?!"

"Very carefully," the blood-faunus sent a sly wink.

"Rule number five," Weiss added and playfully smacked Nora's wrist. "No straddling people at the table!"

That earned giggles to ring out as they continued to eat the treats.

* * *

Later in the evening, team RWBY had already packed their belongings to head for the airship.

Of course, Ruby couldn't just walk Zwei out of Beacon, so he was in her backpack and like a good dog, was silent.

Finally, they boarded the airship and took their seats. Naturally, Yang and Weiss sat together while Blake and Ruby were together on the other side of the aisle. Ruby set the backpack down just below her seat. The giddy ball of fur almost jumped out of the bag when the leader unzipped it slightly to give him some air.

"Zwei," Ruby leaned down and hushed her pet. "Be quiet, dogs aren't allowed on airships, either!"

Zwei softly barked to show her understood and sat in the bag, silently watching the ladybug pair.

"Can you look somewhere else?" Blake asked, uncomfortable with his overbearing gaze.

The little corgi whimpered, his beady eyes firmly on the ladybug duo.

"Ruby," Blake called. "I think he wants out."

"Are you crazy?!" Ruby yelped. "We'll be kicked off the ship if someone sees him!"

The aristocrat couldn't tear her gaze away from Zwei's sad features. His broad ears leaned back, his usual grin a sad frown and it looked like his dark gray eyes were watering.

The blood-faunus couldn't take it anymore. She leaned down and ignored Ruby's pleas. The little corgi panted eagerly, his frown turning into a broad grin as his stubby paws raised in the air.

Blake lifted him up carefully under his front feet and set him on the seats in between her and Ruby.

"It's okay," Blake assured and tugged Ruby's cape, draping it over the little dog. "If someone comes by your cape can hide him."

Ruby glanced at the giddy and excited dog. Seeing him this happy made her heart feel warm. There was no way she could shove him back in the cold, dark bag.

"Okay," Ruby agreed and rubbed his sturdy head, earning a lick on her palm.

Blake giggled and joined her girlfriend, spoiling the little corgi as he laid down to enjoy the relaxing contact.

Across the aisle, the freezerburn pair watched and Weiss pouted.

"Aw… I want to cuddle him…"

"Why cuddle him when you can cuddle me?" Yang asked as she slung an arm over her shoulders.

Weiss released a soft sigh and said in a teasing tone. "I suppose I could deal with you for the time being," despite her words, she found herself nuzzling into Yang's neck.

Yang beamed an ear-to-ear grin, perking an amused eyebrow. "You know I'm irresistible."

Weiss softly inhaled, taking in her girlfriend's soothing lemonade scent. She leaned up slightly and pecked the orange-red scarf around Yang's neck.

From the action, Yang couldn't stop smiling and lightly pecked the scar over Weiss' left eye and nuzzled her head on top of her girlfriend's own.

Weiss' eyes slowly drifted shut and her hand wrapped around Yang's soft palm.

"I hate when you're right."

* * *

 **Can't get enough of freezerburn and ladybug! And Blake's starting to like Zwei! Yay for progress!** **Hmmm I wonder what Ozzy and Glynda were referring to near the end of their bit?** **This was kind of a set-up chapter, but it needed to be done.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	72. Northern Vale

**When pesky 'demons' begin to act mischievously, Weiss questions why. It isn't until a certain blonde opens her eyes to a new world does she get answers that also stem from her past. Priestess & High School AU.**

 **You just read the summary to my latest fic: White Light. It'll come out whenever Let Me Hear is done posting. Just giving you something to look forward to :D**

* * *

The airship ride wasn't too long, only about an hour flight. Of course, Ruby had to stuff the little corgi inside the backpack again. She felt bad, especially after she saw how happy Zwei was when he sat on the airship's cushiony seats in between her and Blake.

But he knew the drill and scampered in the bag, remaining silent for the rest of their travels.

Team RWBY had been in a limo for about twenty minutes. Yang and Ruby flipped out that there was a limo driver there to pick them up, but the vampire sisters assured it was fine and to get in.

The Schnee family had a lot of money and invested in a few hired workers, the limo driver included.

Yang thought the vampire sisters were conspiring to kidnap them for a second, but after being in the limo for a few minutes, she was less tense about being in such a fancy vehicle.

Weiss noticed her distress and grasped her hand, soothing her thumb on top of it. The blonde appreciated the gesture and her stiff posture loosened.

"We're here, Ms. Schnee's," the professional driver announced.

Ruby and Yang leaned forward to stare out the tinted limo windows. What they saw made them absolutely awestruck.

There was a building, no, _castle_ as most people put it, that stood proudly on a mountain. The entrance to the long driveway was guarded by a tall black gate that was shimmered in the moonlight. The castle certainly looked too large for only a few people living inside. That didn't make it any less impressive.

The magnificent building beamed brightly and was coated in layers of white stones. Even though it was dark outside, it was easy to spot due to how white it really was. It was like the home glowed and emitted its own aura.

"Holy shit…" Yang couldn't help but curse. "You guys grew up here?"

"For the most part," Blake said in a monotone voice. She wasn't too keen on telling them that they moved a ton of times before settling here.

"Woooooow," Ruby drawled. "It looks as amazing as I imagined it'd be!"

The limo strolled up the massive and narrow driveway. Soon enough, the vehicle arrived at the snow-white doubles doors and halted.

Ruby picked up the backpack Zwei was cooped up in as the four exited the limo. The Schnee sisters led the way and opened the left double door, knowing their parents left it unlocked for their arrival.

The lights were on in the brilliant living room. The first thing Ruby and Yang noticed was the large glass chandelier. If touched, they feared it would fall since it looked so delicate. It looked so fragile that it made them nervous just standing below it. They were also greeted with a glistening white marble floor and-

"Weiss, Blake!" their dad practically slammed into them. "You're back!"

The vampire sisters returned his crushing hug at the same time.

They video called him a lot, but that was nothing compared to actually being there in person. He was still young-looking, and his white hair was casual with a few strands sticking out.

"It's good to see you, dad," Weiss smiled.

Mr. Schnee gently glided his thumb over the scar on her left eye. "It's good to see you, too."

"Hey, dad," Blake greeted. "Where's mom?"

"Wow," Wilford droned. "Not even three seconds alone with you and you're already asking about her. Feeling the love."

"You know I love you," the aristocrat teased.

"I'm right here, sweetheart," Wilhelmina waved, she was directly behind her husband.

Wilhelmina hadn't changed either. She still looked to be in her early thirties as well. Age was always good to pureblood vampires, and Blake was jealous of them because of that. It allowed them to look far younger than they actually were.

As Blake went over to hug her mother, Wilford sauntered up to Ruby. "I can smell what's in the backpack."

"Oh god, Rubes," Yang whined. "You forgot to ditch the drugs?"

"Now's not the time for those kinds of jokes!" Ruby yelped. "Mr. Schnee, I swear there's no drugs in here-"

Wilford wasn't amused at the blonde's joke and pointed to his nose. "That dog has a strong smell. You might be used to it, but we're not."

"Were we allowed to bring him?" Ruby asked timidly. "Uncle Qrow told us we could, but you didn't- where's uncle Qrow?!"

"He'll join us soon," Wilford informed. "The dog is welcomed here. We've never had a pet before, so we're actually excited to meet him."

Ruby set her bag down and unzipped it. It only took a split second for Zwei to pounce out of the bag. He landed on the smooth floor and shook his tiny form, eager to see new people around him.

Zwei yipped once and started to paw at Mr. Schnee's legs, something he didn't mind, but Ruby quickly picked up the little corgi with a gasp.

"Zwei! Behave," Ruby scolded.

"Arf!"

From his reply, Ruby sighed. "Okay," she set him down once more. This time, the little corgi was calmer and collected. "Good boy."

"Quite the obedient dog," Wilford observed. "I'm impressed."

Zwei yipped again when he caught a scent trail that was familiar. He didn't need to think twice and bolted off while sniffing the air greedily.

"Zwei!" Ruby yelped. "Come back!"

"He's fine," Wilford waved off.

He didn't mind if the dog wandered around his home. From what he could tell, Zwei was intelligent and wouldn't try to do his business inside the house.

Wilford leaned in, his tone lowering. "Listen…"

Wide silver eyes narrowed in concern. "What is it?"

Wilford got dangerously close to her face as he knelt down to get at eye-level with the girl. "If you do anything to hurt my daughter," his blue eyes flashed red for a second. "I'll end you."

Ruby gulped and slowly backed away. "Y-you don't have to worry about that!"

"That goes for you, too," Wilford pointed to Yang. "If you hurt my other daughter as well, there will be consequences."

Yang was too busy gawking at her girlfriend, who was conversing with Blake. She was too deep in thought and daydreaming of her to realize Wilford was talking to her.

"Hey!" Wilford yelped and grabbed her by the collar. "You understand?!"

Yang was forced to stare into his tinted red eyes but didn't think he was intimidating. "U-uh yeah!" she exclaimed. "Wait, what do I understand again?"

"Yaaaaang…" Ruby whined.

"That you won't hurt my daughter," Wilford stated sternly, trying to frighten the girl as his tone lowered menacingly. "Otherwise, I'll hunt you down."

That tactic didn't work as Yang cooed. "Awww. You're trying to be the protective parent," she said in realization and slung her arm around the man's shoulders. "Don't you worry, papa Schnee. I'll treat your daughter like a queen!"

Wilford seemed satisfied with her answer and nodded. He stood and swatted her arm away, slightly annoyed at how familiar Yang was acting towards him, yet so casual and calm when he tried to appear menacing.

Either she was stupid or had guts.

He couldn't tell which.

However, the man didn't miss how Yang looked at Weiss and knew right then and there that she was head over heels for his daughter. If Weiss wasn't going to be with a pureblood, he supposed Yang was the next best option.

Sometime during that conversation, Wilhelmina had strolled over to Weiss, prompting her to take a step back.

"Hun…"

Weiss crossed her arms. "What do you want?"

Obviously, Weiss was still mad at the fact that her mother lied about her being a pureblood for her whole life. Wilford still didn't know the truth, so Weiss was upset with her mom for keeping the lie alive.

She thought Wilhelmina would at least make an effort by now to tell her husband the truth.

It didn't take long for Weiss to notice her father was staring at the duo with a worried expression. Sensing he thought something was wrong, Weiss faced her mother with a forced smile, something she had nailed over the years.

Not wanting to raise suspicion, the heiress pulled her mom in for a hug.

The last thing Wilhelmina expected was a hug from her upset daughter. She understood why she was angry. If Wilhelmina was honest with herself, she wouldn't like her either if she was in Weiss' position.

Wilhelmina softly gasped from the sudden hug. "What're you-"

"Hush and hug me back," Weiss almost demanded in a harsh whisper. "Dad's looking."

Not wanting to worry her husband, Wilhelmina wrapped her arms around her petite daughter, her chin resting on top of Weiss' head in a feigned warm embrace.

The hug lacked what it normally emitted.

Trust.

"I'm sorry…" Wilhelmina breathed in an earnest tone. "I'm so sorry."

Weiss could tell her mother was sincere, but years of suffering would take time to come undone.

The heiress pulled apart, slightly in disgust. "We can talk about it later."

Wilhelmina simply nodded. "I'll hold you to it."

The heiress forced another smile as she watched her mother walk away to join Wilford's side as usual.

Seeing them together like that warmed her heart, but now that she knew the truth…

It made her feel sick.

Before Weiss could feel sad, Blake gently slapped a hand on her back with a grin.

The heiress was reminded of Yang from the contact. Sometimes, her girlfriend would do that and it'd annoy her. But this time, she silently appreciated it and returned the grin full force, this time one hundred percent genuine.

Even though she didn't have the best relationship with her mom at the moment, they were still home.

Where they were loved dearly by their family, no matter what.

Speaking of which, they had one more person to greet as the vampire sisters stared at the corner, waiting for-

Winter…

It was strange not to be greeted by Winter. The vampire sisters still felt like she would show up and hug them.

Instead, they were greeted with someone else and pattering paws.

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby used her speed semblance to tackle him in a hug. "Zwei, you found him!"

"Arf!"

The vampire sisters were disappointed it wasn't their elder sister, but they knew in their hearts that'd be impossible. They were still excited to see Qrow, even though it was odd to see him alone and accompanied by the little corgi.

"Hey troublemaker," Qrow ruffled Ruby's hair and returned the embrace.

Ruby felt like something was different about her uncle. His hug was more loving and yearning, not that they weren't before, it just seemed exemplified. In the past, he seemed uncomfortable in embraces. But right now, Ruby could tell he cherished every second.

Her uncle also adorned a gentler touch like he was handling glass.

Yang immediately noticed Qrow didn't smell like alcohol for once. Which struck her as strange, considering he usually always had a flask in his grasp.

The sisters took these changes as a good thing and didn't question them, thinking he was turning into a better person.

Maybe Winter's death compelled him to be a better man?

They didn't know.

The rest of the team joined Ruby in greeting the man while the pureblood parents watched the loving reunion.

After giving him a hug, Weiss said. "I still can't believe that after all this time he's your uncle."

"Fate has a funny way of showing itself," Yang sent a wink.

"I guess," the heiress said fondly.

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby chirped. "Who do you want us to meet?"

From the question, Wilford, Wilhelmina, and Qrow's grins grew.

"Don't worry about it till tomorrow, okay?" Qrow said soothingly. "They're gonna be more than happy to meet you kiddos."

"You won't even say if it's a he or she," Weiss pointed out. "Who is it that you're trying so hard to hide from us?"

"You'll see tomorrow," Qrow repeated. "Trust me, you'll love 'em."

From his tone, the team could tell Qrow was excited and nervous about the future meeting. But they placed faith in him, knowing they wouldn't be disappointed.

"If you say so," the heiress accepted his words after sighing and rubbing the fatigue from her eyes.

Qrow gazed at her in concern, also noticing Yang had yawned. "Are you kiddos tired?"

Now that they thought about it, they had a pretty long day. The whole night was spent traveling, which left them exhausted.

"Yeah," Blake answered for them. "I think we're going to bed now."

"Awwww," the blonde whined. "But I wanna see the rest of the castle!"

"We can give you a tour tomorrow," Blake replied easily. "Come on, we're going upstairs."

"Tour…" Ruby muttered.

That word made it sound like the castle was huge, which it obviously was. Hearing it just seemed so surreal.

"Oh fancay," Yang murmured in amusement. "How many stories does this place have anyways?"

"Quite a few," Weiss left it at that.

Yang didn't want to question them further, sensing that everyone was very fatigued and not in the mood for an interrogation.

The team grabbed their belongings and headed upstairs after saying goodnight to the parents and Qrow. Surprisingly, the little corgi followed after them. After being away from Qrow for so long, Ruby and Yang thought for sure Zwei would want to spend more time with him.

Zwei seemed to want to be with them as he giddily trailed behind the lagging group. He didn't seem tired at all compared to his companions.

When they finally made it up the spiral-shaped white stairs, they were greeted with a soft white carpet and the vampire sisters kept leading the way.

"Damn…" the blonde muttered. "I knew the princess liked white, but this is borderline obsession."

"The decoration and layout of this place was decided by my parents," Weiss replied.

"It suits you," Yang assured after yawning. "Even though it's so bright I could be blinded, it works."

"Look," Blake pointed at a painting on the wall, which was an image of the four seasons blended together. "That's not white."

Yang snickered in response. Of course her partner found a chance to be a smartass.

Finally, the team and Zwei made it to a large white bedroom that was coated in snowflakes. Yang and Ruby's jaws dropped at how massive the room actually was. It was about half the length of a football field and covered in bookshelves.

"Whose room is this?" Ruby asked, clearly baffled.

"Mine," Weiss and Blake casually replied in unison.

"Wait," Yang said. "You guys share a room?"

"There's only one bed," Ruby observed.

"Remember," Weiss reminded. "Growing up, Blake was determined to be my bodyguard. She wanted to 'bodyguard' me even while I slept, so we shared a room."

The younger Blake was always focused on her job. As she grew older, her job became being a sister and later it was only natural to be protective of Weiss. At first, Blake slept next to Weiss because she wanted to bodyguard her and nothing more. As the years went by, she found herself comforted by her presence and the two never ended up in separate rooms.

Yang's jaw dropped as she pointed at Blake. "You slept together?!"

Blake nodded, not thinking much about it.

Yang was insanely jealous of her partner right now. All those years she got to sleep next to her girlfriend?! Did Blake know how blessed she was?!

The bed had pale blue sheets and adorned a large snowflake on the top blanket. If Yang knew any better, she'd say this bed was made specifically for her girlfriend.

"So uh," Ruby chirped. "Where do we sleep?"

"Oh…" Weiss mumbled.

Blake's cat ears flattened on her head and Zwei yipped once, wondering where he'd rest as well.

The vampire sisters knew there were plenty of spare beds, but the two had grown accustomed to sleeping on that specific bed. The other beds felt lonely and cold, especially when they thought about how big the rooms and castle were.

Yang sensed their discomfort. "It's alright! I'll just sleep on the floor if you don't want me to leave."

"No," Weiss shook her head. "That's not it. We're just used to this bed."

Zwei happily pranced over to the spacious bed and hopped on the sheets. After sniffing the surface, he barked once and sat near the edge, his tongue lolled out.

"Ohhh," Ruby realized. "So you both wanna sleep on that bed?"

Weiss and Blake nodded.

"Oh," Yang said, but then got a mischievous grin.

Her plan should work, but she certainly knew her girlfriend would put up a fight.

 _Challenge accepted,_ Yang thought.

Yang sauntered over to the bed and casually laid on top of it with her dog, prompting her teammates to give her a look.

"What? This baby can fit all of us no problem!"

"This is ridiculous!" Weiss exclaimed. "There are dozens of other beds in this house."

"Dozens?" Ruby repeated in awe. "Wow…"

"I don't wanna be in a cold room all by my lonesome," the blonde said sadly, blatantly egging her on. "Come on!" she patted the bed. "Team bonding time!"

Blake was exhausted and wasn't going to protest. She walked over to the bed with droopy eyes and joined her partner, causing the bed to shift from the extra weight.

"B-Blake!?" Weiss yelped. "You too? What do you think father would say?"

"He-" the aristocrat yawned, her cat ears leaning back tiredly like keeping them up took great effort. "He won't care…"

"Aw," Yang cooed. "The kitten is already falling asleep. How precious."

The blonde carefully coaxed Blake under the covers, as she did so, Blake was completely limp and already out cold. Yang tugged the blankets above herself and her partner, giving her some much-needed warmth.

Ruby's face was as red as her cape as she joined the duo under the soft blankets. She couldn't just leave her girlfriend in there with her sister!

"I'm sleeping here, too!" Ruby nervously declared.

Weiss stood there, taking in the scene. Was she the only sane one here?

Ruby gently laid the already sleeping Blake in front of her and wrapped her arms protectively around her girlfriend. The leader couldn't stop a grin from forming as she curled behind the sleeping blood-faunus, taking in her soothing scent.

Yang pat the spot behind her. "C'mere princess. There's a spot with your name on it!"

Weiss frowned, but they sure looked comfortable. She knew if she was going to get any sleep tonight, it would be in her bed. Plus, sleeping next to her girlfriend always assured a good night's rest…

The more she thought about it, the more logical it seemed. When she slept next to Yang, she always woke up refreshed and even felt like a new person. The heiress playfully rolled her eyes and turned off the lights. She swallowed her pride and strolled over, trying to ignore Yang's infuriating smirk.

"Honestly," Weiss mumbled as she pulled up the blankets. "Why are you so troublesome?"

"You know you love it~" Yang teasingly sang and pecked her girlfriend's scar over her left eye before turning over.

Weiss draped her arms around Yang's back and torso, pulling her close. As she leaned into her blonde mane, Weiss enjoyed Yang's natural scent even more. Blake was directly behind Weiss, her breathing in deep rhythm. From what she could tell, Ruby was out like a light, too. Normally, her leader would talk for a little before bed, so she knew Ruby was exhausted.

Before the heiress knew it, her breathing slowed as Yang's scent and warm body helped her sleep.

Before she drifted off, Weiss murmured almost inaudibly.

"I do…"

Yang caught the words and faintly smiled, giving her girlfriend's hand a loving squeeze. Before Yang dozed off, Zwei dawdled from the foot of the bed to directly in front of her.

Yang could see what he wanted with a silent plea. She opened her arms, allowing Zwei to curl up against her under the covers.

It was so warm…

* * *

 **Guys… guys…**

 **Dat fluff.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	73. When Will They Find Out?

The next morning, team RWBY and Zwei woke up naturally for the first time in a long time.

To the sun's soothing rays that trickled through the window.

It was nice not going to class and constantly worrying about other issues. They woke up with clear minds and good conscience, especially when the team woke up together.

In the same bed.

Falling asleep together was easy, but the body heat of four different people and dog was suffocating when they woke up. It didn't take them long to hop out of the massive bed to start their day and get dressed.

Still, the couples didn't mind being greeted by their partners first thing in the morning.

It was nice…

The little corgi remained asleep and dead to the world on top of the comfortable mattress. His tiny body left a slight dent in the area, where he was glued to all night. Despite his fur, Yang made sure to keep him warm and cuddled him all night while Weiss cuddled her from behind.

Yang scooped Zwei in her arms and lightly rubbed his warm belly with her fingertips in an attempt to rouse him. His dark gray eyes finally opened as his paws flailed in the air with his usual giddy grin.

"I think he slept well," Blake couldn't help but smirk at the giddy corgi.

"I think we all did," Ruby beamed a smile as she rubbed Zwei's broad ears that radiated heat.

Weiss sighed, knowing Yang was right the night before. "That was quite relaxing, even though we were all sweltering when we woke up."

"Worth it!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Arf!" Zwei seemed to agree.

"Anyone else hungry?" Yang asked her team after she felt her stomach growl. "I don't think we had dinner last night."

"We were too tired to," Ruby said and turned to the vampire sisters. "Where's the kitchen?"

"Follow us," they replied in unison.

Lucky for them, they had plenty of human food to keep up the appearances of a normal household. The castle stood out like a sore thumb and besides the constant white, the place could pass as another 'human' home.

Nothing was suspicious about it and the castle contained several glimmering windows, something that would throw off people who believed in vampire stereotypes.

They snaked their way through the mansion. If Weiss and Blake weren't leading, Ruby and Yang would have gotten lost for sure. Zwei trotted behind the team and sniffed a few decorative plants and furniture every now and then.

They finally reached their destination. The kitchen was large like the other rooms and had light marble flooring. The table was an island in front of the fridge and other appliances. While Ruby and Yang took their seats, Weiss and Blake stood behind the granite counter while Zwei decided to wander around the room to explore.

"What would you like?" Weiss asked. "We have a decent amount of human food."

"Something simple," Yang replied.

Blake's cat ears perked up. "Pancakes?"

"Nah," Ruby waved off. "We get enough of those at Beacon."

Yang grinned fondly as she recalled the memories in the secret pancake room. "Oh Nora…"

"We have waffles," Weiss casually mentioned.

"Yes!" Yang exclaimed. "Oh my god it's been forever since I had waffles!"

Seeing her girlfriend so excited about food put a smile on Weiss' face. She opened the freezer and reached into grab the sugary treats.

"What about you, Ruby?" Blake asked her girlfriend.

"Waffles are good to me," Ruby beamed and waved her legs back and forth with a giddy grin. She was so excited she couldn't sit still.

While Weiss opened the plastic to reach the waffles, Blake pulled out the toaster from the cupboard and plugged it in.

Yang got up to help the two, but Weiss quickly stopped her.

"Stop right there, Yang," Weiss said. "We are the hostesses, take your seat."

Yang hesitantly sat down and pouted, but then her grin returned full force. "You're making me breakfast? Oh man, I'm swooning!"

"You _are_ our guests," Blake informed. "Let us do the work. Besides, waffles aren't hard to make."

Growing up, the vampire sisters always assumed the hostess role. They were rarely guests and were usually the family hosting the vampire balls.

Years of hostess training were nailed into their minds and right now they wanted to spoil their girlfriends.

Weiss slipped the waffles in the toaster and hit the correct setting.

While the waffles toasted, the vampire sisters got their girlfriends cups of water and for them, two bags of real blood.

Not long after, the waffles popped up and the vampire sisters got to work. Weiss knew Yang didn't like too much syrup, so she only poured a little on the meal. Blake meanwhile almost drenched Ruby's plate, knowing she liked sugar and sweetness.

Yang and Ruby licked their lips in anticipation, their forks at the ready. Once the breakfast was in front of them, they dug in.

"This is good!" Yang said after chewing a yellow piece. "You guys are good at making human food. You know, for not being able to eat it."

"How do you do it?" Ruby asked after swallowing a bite.

Weiss perked an amused eyebrow. "Magic."

It was actually from watching so many human cooking shows out of boredom, but they didn't have to know that.

Ruby slightly chuckled before going back to her meal.

The vampire sisters finally opened their blood bags. Ruby and Yang weren't fazed at all by the fact that their girlfriends were drinking the thick blood.

They knew everyone had to eat something, even if they were from a different species. The vampire sisters' meal was blood and nothing else. Sometimes Yang and Ruby were a little jealous of their simple diet, but then remembered how much of a pain it would be to hide it.

Still, they were glad the vampires were comfortable enough to be themselves around them. It was nice to see them thrive in a relaxed environment.

Weiss and Blake enjoyed every single drop to the fullest. Drinking real blood was more like a treat, but they still needed it to survive, just not as often as other vampires.

Their vampiric urges had been trained since birth, so they were far more in control of their vampiric urges than most.

There was some blood smeared on the corner of Blake's lips, so Ruby wiped it off with her thumb.

"T-thanks."

"No problem," Ruby replied. "Do you wanna take that bow off? Everyone here knows you're part faunus, and your cat ears can breathe for once."

"Good idea," the blood-faunus untied her bow and wrapped it around her wrist.

"Kitten, you look so cute~" Yang teased. "It's a crime we don't see them often."

Weiss couldn't help but stare as well. Ever since the two attended Beacon, Blake rarely removed the bow. Weiss was so used to her cat ears being out in the open before and now she was glad her sister could do so again.

"I guess…" Blake seemed troubled as her fluffy ears flicked and leaned back slightly.

Not only did Blake have to hide the fact that she was a vampire, but she felt like she had to hide the faunus part. Hiding two parts of her identity saddened her. She knew one was to keep their existence a secret, but it was tiring, and she wished she could just… be herself in a normal society sometimes.

Ruby sensed she was troubled and pushed her plate away after a relieved sigh. "Can we get that tour now?"

"Arf!"

"Aww," the leader cooed. "Zwei wants one, too!"

The vampire sisters noticed everyone was done with their meal, including them, so they decided now was a good time.

"Let's go," the heiress stated.

There was no way they were going to show the whole castle to them, it'd take too much time. So they elected to chose the most used rooms with more memories.

The first stop was the training room. It was similar to Beacon's, and it was strange for the vampire sisters to not see it coated and drenched in ice. Their family used it constantly in order to get stronger against people that wanted to take their lives for power.

Years of blood, sweat, and tears layered the room. It still looked clean and smelled nice, so there was no way someone would know of the hardships in this room alone.

Zwei zoomed passed the group and yipped, excitedly flipping all around the spacious room. His bark echoed throughout the area, causing his stubby tail to wag.

"You like this room, boy?" Ruby asked. "I like it too!"

"He's energetic," Blake observed, amusement in her tone.

Zwei's paws pattered on the glistening floor as he pranced over to his companions. He had enough fun in that one room.

The next room wasn't the vampire sister's favorite. Not by a long shot.

It was the vampire ballroom.

The room where most of their parties were hosted. Where they were forced to talk with strangers and suitors.

"It's beautiful," Yang said in awe.

Her eyes trailed to the glass chandelier hanging on the ceiling in the middle of the room. To the side, there were massive pairs of stairs that glimmered under the lights. The railings were plastered in gold and there was a glass window on the other side that dwarfed the stairs in comparison.

"It is," Weiss agreed, her tone lowered. "But the memories aren't."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

"For starters," Blake cut in. "This is where we met Cardin for the first time."

Ruby and Yang cringed from the revelation.

"Yeah, that'd ruin it," Yang agreed.

Blake nodded in agreement.

"This is also where the vampire parties were held," the heiress informed. "This means we talked to worthless suitors and entertained self-centered guests."

Yang knew their vampire lives were difficult, at least their burden was partially lifted when they went to Beacon. Still, Yang felt like the luckiest girl in the world. Weiss must've met a lot of suitors, and yet she chose her.

"You don't have to worry about that anymore," Yang assured. "You have me now!"

Their fingers intertwined in a waffle effect. "I know," the heiress replied, a faint smile present.

Blake couldn't help but chuckle. "It was awful."

"Those days are behind you, right?" Ruby asked.

"I think so," Blake couldn't say for sure. "Let's hope."

The group didn't stay for too long and strayed out of the room.

There was one more destination the vampire sisters wanted to show their team. While Zwei dawdled behind them, the team came to a sudden halt. On the way to their original destination, Weiss and Blake froze when certain white double doors came into view.

"What room's that?" Yang asked curiously, wondering why her teammates seemed sad.

Blake and Weiss bit their lip, glancing at the doors in sorrow, their eyes almost watering.

Yang and Ruby cautiously approached the room and slid open the doors. They watched for any signs of discomfort, but the vampire sisters only looked inside, searching for something.

For some reason, they expected _her_ to still be there.

Working behind her desk with a certain someone standing beside her with a cocky grin.

"Winter's study…" Blake managed to rasp.

Now their reactions made sense to Ruby and Yang. It must've been strange to not see their sister where she usually was.

Especially if it was for a good portion of their lives.

"Oh…" Yang trailed off. "Is-is this where Qrow was a lot, too?"

"Yes," Weiss nodded, sorrow in her tone. "Qrow was _always_ with her."

A faint smile tugged the corners of Yang's lips when she knew…

Qrow definitely had a thing for Winter.

"Speaking of Qrow," Blake's cat ears perked up. "Didn't he say we're supposed to meet someone important today?"

Zwei yipped once, his tongue lolled out. Before anyone could react, he glanced at his companions before tearing off in another direction.

"I think he wants us to follow him," Yang inferred.

At the end of the hallway, Zwei turned around and yipped again, confirming their thoughts.

"Coming!" Ruby yelped as the four followed the corgi.

"Where're you taking us?" Blake asked.

She only received a soft bark as Zwei trotted down the halls.

After a few twists and turns throughout the castle, Blake and Weiss came across a room they'd rarely been in.

Zwei pawed at the door and barked once, his broad ears perked up and alert.

"What's inside, boy?" Ruby asked. "Are we allowed in there?"

Zwei whimpered and gently pawed the wooden white door.

There was a faint, delighted giggle inside the room like a baby noise.

Ruby and Yang weren't sure if they were allowed in the room, so they stepped aside for either Blake or Weiss to open the door.

Blake took a deep breath and pushed the pale blue lever down. The white door slightly cracked as it opened, breaking the dead silence.

Inside, the team was shocked to find Wilhelmina, Wilford, and Qrow standing in the middle of the room as if they were waiting for their arrival.

Zwei pranced inside and nuzzled Qrow's legs like he was aware of the situation. Zwei gave a calm yip and stood on his hind legs, trying to reach the blanket in his arms.

The four stood in the hallway, wondering what was in the white blanket Qrow was holding.

"Kiddos," Qrow started. "Meet Aves."

The four could only watch in suspense as Qrow turned the baby to face the team, carefully tugging down the blanket to reveal the baby's fragile features.

"Winter's daughter."

* * *

 **These are the lyrics to the Let Me Hear song by NateWantsToBattle: "A human baby 'when will they find out?'"** **They found out about Aves this chapter hence the title!**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	74. A Piece Remains

"Kiddos," Qrow started. "Meet Aves."

The team could only watch the little baby give a tiny giggle as she was rocked gently in Qrow's arms.

"Winter's daughter."

The pureblood parents carefully watched the team's reactions, especially their daughters.

"Excuse me, what?" Weiss couldn't believe what she just heard.

She didn't sound upset. In fact, she sounded more intrigued about the revelation than anything.

"It's true," Wilford chimed sternly.

"Holy shit," Yang breathed. "She looks just like Weiss!"

Blake and Weiss' jaws dropped. Now that two people had confirmed it, it was more believable. They would have nothing to gain from lying to them about this.

"Who's the father?" Blake asked hesitantly.

Qrow sent her a fond grin, his kind red eyes answered for him.

The vampire sisters pieced it together. Aves had his exact red eyes and Winter's snow-white hair.

Yang pointed from Qrow to the vampire sisters, her jaw almost dropping to the floor.

"I knew it!"

An excited whine erupted from Aves, prompting Qrow to ruffle her soft white hair.

The team squealed from the cuteness.

"We have a cousin!?" Ruby yelped. "Is it true!?"

"Yes," Wilhelmina confirmed as she coddled Zwei. "Aves is your cousin and Weiss and Blake's niece."

Weiss was still at unease around her mother but decided to ignore that feeling and focus her attention on the baby.

The four bolted over to get a better view of their newest family member. It was interesting to think about. Aves was technically related by blood to three of the four team members. Blake didn't have any of their blood coursing through her, but Aves was still her niece.

"How'd this even happen?" Blake asked. "I didn't know you two were like… _that_."

Blake knew Qrow and Winter were fond of each other, everyone knew that, but she wasn't aware that it escalated to love.

Or at least when.

Qrow gently coaxed the baby into Ruby's arms. The leader made sure to keep a firm hand on the back of Aves' head and couldn't help but ruffle her white hair. Her remaining team crowded around the baby, still taking in her features.

"It was like that for a while," Qrow revealed. "We were just good at hiding it."

Blake accepted the answer. Qrow spoke with fondness and sorrow. Thinking about Winter still hit a pang in their hearts. Especially since Aves could pass as Winter or Weiss' younger twin.

No one was really shocked that Qrow was the father. In fact, they were glad. If Winter was going to be with anybody, the family would have voted for Qrow.

They were also thrilled that Winter left behind a living piece of her.

A legacy.

Ruby peppered kisses all along Aves' smooth face, eliciting giddy cooes from the baby. "I'm your cousin, Ruby!" the leader chirped. "We're gonna get along so well! Oh my gosh, we can get you addicted to cookies too!"

"How about no," Yang whisked Aves out of her sister's arms.

"Your addiction is contagious," Weiss added. "Don't spread it to poor Aves."

"Aves…" the name rolled off Blake's tongue.

The more she thought about it, the more she thought the name fit the baby. Blake was well-educated from reading so many books, so she knew the true meaning behind the name.

Qrow's deceased sister was named Raven and Qrow is also named after a bird, so Blake chuckled. Aves wasn't the name of a bird, but it was the scientific word for 'bird.'

"Clever," Blake admitted as she glanced at Qrow.

"I know," he sent her a smug grin.

When Yang was done holding her cousin, she held out the baby, so Weiss could have her turn to hold her niece.

The heiress clutched a hand on the back of the baby's head, careful not to jostle her. Tears almost welled-up in Weiss' eyes. Aves definitely looked just like Winter. She was no doubt her child.

"Hi, Aves," Weiss cooed and planted a kiss on her forehead. "I promise I'll be the best aunt ever."

"We'll see about that," Blake smirked, challenging her sister.

Weiss sent her a grin. "Challenge accepted."

The vampire sisters were definitely going to spoil this kid rotten.

Before Weiss could coax Aves into Blake's arms, there was a soft tug on her hair.

Aves was clutching the white waterfall, her red eyes wide and disbelieving. Her soft hands soothed through the snowy tresses, causing her to grin widely.

Yang rubbed a finger in Aves' scraggly white hair. "Yep, you got your mom and aunt's hair!"

Aves squealed in delight, both her hands now tugging the white hair rather roughly.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow," Weiss repeated, groaning in pain. "Someone take her please."

Yang unclasped the tiny hands away from her girlfriend's hair while Blake reached out to hold the baby.

It didn't take the aristocrat long to realize Aves' eyes trailed to the top of her head. To test the waters, Blake flicked one of her cat ears. The action immediately caused Aves to giggle softly and reach her arms out. She was clearly amazed by the furry ears, seemingly distracted by everything that was in her view.

Blake couldn't resist the cuteness overload and lifted Aves up to reach the furry appendages. When Aves grasped Weiss' hair, she was rough, but with Blake's cat ears, she was careful and cautious.

Aves rubbed them a few times with her small thumbs. Several delighted laughs escaped her small mouth with an ear-to-ear grin present.

The team found it amusing. Blake never let anyone touch her cat ears besides Ruby. Those two would definitely get along.

"No fair…" Yang pouted. "She gets a free pass, huh?"

Blake simply shrugged and coaxed the baby to her protective arms once more. "She's my niece."

Yang feigned shock. "But I'm your teammate and partner, kitten!"

"This is different," the blood-faunus smiled down at the baby.

"Wait," Weiss chimed. "Is Aves a vampire?"

It was a good question. Qrow never mentioned her species and up until this point they had assumed she was a vampire based on statistics, but they wanted to know for sure.

"She's a human," Qrow answered. "Do you sense something?"

"Yes…" Weiss mumbled, eyes fixed on her niece. "She has an aura. A strong one."

"Right!" Wilford added after petting Zwei. "Aves can be a huntress."

" _If_ she wants," Wilhelmina said. "She doesn't have to become one, but we're really excited."

"So… she isn't a vampire at all?" Yang asked. "I don't get it."

"Not one bit," Blake answered. "I can't sense a single ounce of zehn coming from her."

Weiss took a deep breath to explain things to Yang and Ruby. "If a vampire mates with a human, the odds are their offspring would be a human. But Winter was a pureblood. Since she uh… mated…" it was weird to say the word, especially since she was talking about her sister. "... with Qrow, their child would more than likely be a vampire."

"I still don't get why she's not even an ounce of a vampire," Ruby mumbled. "It doesn't make sense."

"Human genes are dominant," the heiress answered. "Human genes can easily overpower a vampire's, so much so it's like the vampire's genes never existed, which happened in this case."

Almost everyone in the room was blushing, but Yang just had a wide grin.

"Ladies and gents," the blonde announced. "Sex-ed with Weiss Schnee."

As if the baby understood the joke, she let out a giddy giggle. Blake chuckled soon after, rocking the baby in her arms.

"Anyone else want to hold her?" Blake asked. She had her turn.

"Me!" Wilhelmina eagerly chirped and bolted over.

Blake easily coaxed the baby to her mother's arms. That seemed to make Wilhelmina's day.

"I can't believe we have a new family member," Weiss muttered. "It's wonderful."

"Told ya you'd be happy," Qrow teased. "Especially since Aves is Winter's child."

"Yeah…" Blake agreed and wiped her eyes before tears could spill over. "It's great news," her voice wavered. "Too great..."

"I guess this makes us like an actual family now, huh?" Ruby asked her girlfriend.

The chain of events was interesting to Blake. She went from being an orphan to surrounded by people who loved and cared for her.

She had loving adoptive parents, her sister, her team.

And now she had a niece.

It was so surreal.

The blood-faunus grasped Ruby's hand, their fingers intertwined.

"Yeah, I guess it does."

* * *

Later that night, the team decided to watch a few movies. They didn't want to be separated from Aves for too long, but they also needed some time to process the events.

It came as no surprise when Yang and Ruby were told that the castle had a built-in theater.

The room was set up like an actual movie theater. It adorned red carpets, the opposite of what the rest of the castle looked like. Speakers were built in the walls, and the room had a massive screen in the front with a projector in the back.

The team moved the seats out of the way and sprawled out giant blankets on the floor to create a more romantic atmosphere.

They knew they had to make moments like this last. Sooner or later, they'd have to go back to Beacon and focus on final exams, so right now they wanted to enjoy it as much as they could.

Tonight, they weren't accompanied by the corgi. Zwei elected to spend the night with Qrow, Aves, and the purebloods. His decision was fine with the team, they could use a little time to themselves. Besides, Zwei probably wouldn't be able to sit still during the movie anyways.

The ladybug pair had the opposite side of the room from the freezerburn duo. Each couple wanted their alone time, yet they were still together.

Ruby turned down the blaring speakers, sensing her team was nodding off. Blake had been drowsy for a while and Ruby didn't mind falling asleep on the floor, so long as it was with her girlfriend.

The blankets were thick and fluffy, so it was similar to lying on a bed rather than a hard floor.

Ruby pulled Blake close and examined her sleeping face. To help her drift off and have sweet dreams, Ruby rubbed Blake's cat ears. Every time she did that, she wondered if she was doing it correctly.

But Blake's vibrating purrs put her mind at ease. Subconsciously, Blake had nuzzled into the crook of Ruby's neck, eliciting a blush from the leader.

Ruby continued the soothing motions and wrapped her red cape around the both of them like a blanket.

Since Blake had no pillow, Ruby used her arm to support her girlfriend's neck, coddling it gently like she did earlier with the baby.

Before dozing off, Ruby pecked Blake's nose and murmured.

"Goodnight…"

On the other side of the room, Weiss and Yang were cuddling and fit perfectly in each other's arms. It was like they were each other's puzzle pieces. Weiss' head fit just above her girlfriend's chest and perfectly below her chin. The heiress' legs were tucked in between Yang's own, her frigid feet easily warmed up against her personal heater.

By this point, the third movie had played. The freezerburn pair weren't paying attention to the screen and were more attentive to each other in their embrace.

They were both pretty warm thanks to Yang's semblance, so no blanket was needed.

Out of the blue, Yang felt a wet sensation trickle on her clothing. She gasped thinly and softly called out.

"Weiss? You okay?"

"Yeah…" she rasped, not wanting to disturb her teammates. "I'm just so happy…"

Yang pulled the girl closer. "I am, too," she let out a relieved sigh. "I'm so glad we got to meet Aves."

This was the first time Yang had seen her girlfriend cry tears of joy. She was relieved things were starting to look up for her.

For all of them.

After all they've been through, it was about time. She just wished they knew about Aves sooner to make things easier during their earlier dark time.

"Yeah…" Weiss buried her head into Yang's pajamas. "I-I'm so happy Winter left us a piece of her."

"Me too," Yang grinned and peppered kisses along her head.

Weiss giggled from the ticklish action and kissed her girlfriend's neck, causing a shiver to crawl up Yang's spine as she gasped thinly.

That was an accomplishment. Weiss had finally managed to catch her off guard!

She kept sucking that one spot, intent to tease her even more. Despite her girlfriend being a human, Weiss wasn't tempted at all to suck her blood. She'd had her fill of blood today. Besides, she promised she'd never hurt Yang like that ever again and she meant it.

"D-don't suck that hard," the blonde choked out in a harsh whisper. "You're gonna leave a mark!"

"Oh?" Weiss' eyebrow perked in amusement. "What's so bad about that?"

The blonde couldn't think of a logical reason, but she knew Qrow would question it and perhaps tease the crap out of her if he saw a hickey.

Weiss was met with silence.

"Exactly," the heiress said and tugged the orange-red scarf around Yang's neck. "Besides, I don't think you ever take this off. It could easily cover a mark."

Yang faintly chuckled as she stared into her azure eyes. "Why would I take it off? You gave it to me."

Weiss tore her gaze away and nuzzled into Yang's neck, taking in her lemonade scent. "Brute…"

The blonde pecked the scar over her left eye, causing Weiss to glance up.

The two leaned in with no hesitation and their lips met. It was like there was a spark of light in the darkness. Slowly, the kiss was filled with more vigor. Their hearts were pounding wildly. They had kissed before, but this was more assertive, like nothing else in the world mattered as they melted into each other.

Yang's tongue touched the edge of her girlfriend's teeth, asking for silent permission. Weiss opened her mouth slightly, allowing the wet muscle to enter. The action elicited a moan from both girls as their tongues battled for dominance and hands roamed up and down their backs.

After several seconds, the two reluctantly broke apart, panting for breath. They didn't want to, but if they continued, they were aware that they might wake their teammates.

"I didn't know the princess could make such a lewd sound," Yang teased in a whisper.

"S-shut up," Weiss blushed. "You made an embarrassing sound, too…"

"Just admit it," Yang's tone lowered seductively. "You liked it."

Weiss weakly smiled and flicked her girlfriend's forehead before burying her face into Yang's shoulder.

"I'll take that as a yes."

* * *

 **To make things clearer on the genes of humans and vampires:**

 **A human+vampire makes an aristocrat. If that aristocrat has another baby with a human, the vampire's power will weaken until their lineage doesn't matter. But some human genes are very dominant and sometimes overwhelm the vampire genes entirely, which happened in Aves' case! Also, only two purebloods can make another pureblood, which of course was Winter. That's how this fic goes since it's fiction.**

 **Questions? PM me!**

 **The baby is named Aves because that is the scientific name for 'bird.' I wanted to continue the 'Raven' and 'Qrow' tradition of bird names and wanted it to be unique, so I didn't pick an actual bird.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	75. Sorry

Later the next day, the parents took the liberty of making everyone breakfast. They were just as educated in making human food as their daughters, if not more so.

The breakfast was like a gourmet meal. Wilhelmina knew Ruby was fond of strawberries, courtesy of her sister, so she made her French toast with strawberries on top and whipped cream on the side. She also made Yang several sausages since Blake told her meat was her favorite. Yang also got pancakes with blueberries drizzled on top.

Wilford wished he could make his daughters an extravagant meal for them to enjoy. Human food looked delicious, but it tasted like garbage, so he ended up giving them some blood from the refrigerator.

The vampire sisters could tell the blood was extremely fresh as it trickled down their throats. This blood was extra thick and more satisfying. It made them feel guilty their dad was still doing the dirty work, but it helped them feel better that they didn't see it happen.

Being home made them feel spoiled. At Beacon, their diet was mainly blood tablets, so only having real blood to drink for a while was euphoric.

They finished the blood bags around the same time Ruby and Yang finished chomping on their meal.

Not soon after, Wilhelmina sent Weiss a pleading look.

The heiress knew what she wanted and got up from her seat. "I'll be right back," she calmly took her leave and exited the kitchen.

"Okay!" Ruby called after her.

They enjoyed casual conversation for a few minutes. While they were distracted, Wilhelmina managed to slip out the room without being noticed to search for her daughter. It didn't take her long to find her a few rooms down. Weiss casually sat on a white sofa, the arch allowed her mother to see her.

"Weiss…" Wilhelmina murmured. "I'm sorry."

The mother and daughter hadn't talked to each other one-on-one since the day her mom told her she wasn't a pureblood. Weiss had a lot of time to think since then, so her mom wanted to know her thoughts on the matter and discuss it properly.

They always had a great relationship, but right now it was strained, something that made them both uncomfortable.

Judging by her mother's tone, Wilhelmina genuinely meant it.

She was sorry.

She was sorry for lying to Weiss.

She was sorry for putting her through unnecessary burdens.

She was sorry for _everything_.

Weiss carefully weighed her mother's words and bit her lip, contemplating what she'd say next.

"Sit down," the heiress requested.

Wilhelmina gave a timid nod, her eyes watering and already red from sadness.

The two sat on the same couch with some distance between them. Weiss gripped the end of her skirt until her knuckles turned even more white.

"I've been thinking about all this…"

"Yeah?" Wilhelmina asked. "And?"

"And I've decided…"

Wilhelmina took a deep breath, preparing for the worst.

"I don't care."

Her reply took Wilhelmina a second to process. "Wait, what?"

"I don't care," the heiress simply shrugged. "What happened in the past is the past. We can't change that. It wouldn't be wise to strain the present, now would it?"

Yang taught her that. She learned so many things from her girlfriend, even life lessons that are priceless.

Wilhelmina stared into her daughter's ice blue eyes that matched her own. She was wondering when her daughter had grown so mature.

"No, it wouldn't," the mom agreed. "But how are you so accepting of this? I thought you'd be more… mad, angry, or frustrated!"

"Sorry to disappoint," the heiress murmured. "I just wish you would tell father."

"I will soon," Wilhelmina decided, conviction in her tone. "It's not fair to keep him in the dark about this. It's not fair to anyone. It hurts you and me, and it unknowingly hurts him."

Weiss set her cold hand on top of her mother's frigid fingers. "That's all I ask. I just feel like… every time I see him, it hurts knowing I'm not his legitimate child. But he's still my dad no matter what and he deserves to know."

Wilhelmina soothed her dainty thumb over Weiss' palm. "Don't worry, I'll tell him soon," her voice wavered. "I just fear our family will never be the same."

"Mom," the heiress called. "Do you love father?"

A faint smile grazed Wilhelmina's lips. "Of course I do. I knew I made a horrible mistake, one I couldn't take back. But I'm glad I made that mistake." Weiss seemed surprised from her words, so her mom continued. "Then we wouldn't have had you."

"I'm sure if you explained the whole story to him, everything will go back to normal sooner or later," Weiss stated. "I see the way he looks at you. You're his everything."

"He's _my_ everything," the female pureblood murmured fondly. "Originally, he was my suitor. Back then, there was one other pureblood I was able to mate with, but your father and I actually got along quite nicely and had Winter."

Weiss listened intently to her mother's story. She could definitely relate and understood her feelings.

"It wasn't until after I cheated on him I realized Wilford was my soulmate. And to top it off, he was a pureblood as well," Wilhelmina continued.

Weiss seemed saddened by her mother's story, her head lowered in shame.

"Make no mistake, Weiss," Wilhelmina said. "You're not an accident. Not by a long shot. If I could go back in time, I wouldn't change a thing."

"Thank you, mom," Weiss murmured, her voice wavering.

This whole time, Weiss felt like her very existence would cause her parent's marriage to fall in shambles. But she could tell her mother meant every word.

The last thing Wilhelmina was expecting was to be thanked, but she smiled. "Your father and I will have to sort a few things out, but I think you're right. We will get through this."

"Yeah," the heiress agreed. "We will."

Wilhelmina scooted closer to her daughter and held out her arms. Weiss briefly smiled and slid into the embrace, glad it contained trust again.

They hugged each other like that for a while until they broke apart.

"Come on," she stood and held out her hand. "Your friends are probably wondering where you are."

Weiss accepted the gesture and stood, her height much shorter than her mom. Wilhelmina was almost a head taller than her daughter, her white bobbed hair reaching just passed her shoulders.

"You're right."

The two walked out and were greeted by the eager corgi, who was standing on the edge of the hall's arch like he had been waiting.

"Hey, Zwei!" Wilhelmina cooed. "Do you know where they are?"

Zwei gave a small yip and turned around, intent to lead them.

Weiss didn't question it and began to follow the small corgi. Wilhelmina was confused but followed anyways, wondering if the dog actually understood her question.

After a few turns, Zwei led them to another room Weiss had rarely visited. Wilhelmina's face went pale and she froze in place.

"Mom?" Weiss asked with urgency. "What's wrong? What's in there?"

Wilhelmina just stood there and bit her lip as Zwei pawed at the door and whimpered.

Before they knew it, the handle was pressed down, and the door opened from the inside.

"Qrow?" Weiss asked. "Why're you in there?"

One of Qrow's arms was occupied and holding the tiny Aves. "Wilhelmina," he stated, his voice alert.

"Are you sure she should be anywhere near here?"

"What is he talking about?" Weiss asked with force in her tone. "What's in there?"

Wilhelmina could only stare at Qrow, her azure orbs screamed sadness. "You don't want to see."

Weiss pushed passed Qrow rather forcefully. "I'll be the judge of that."

"W-wait!" Qrow exclaimed and held out the baby in front of Weiss' face in an attempt to distract her. "Look! A baby!"

Weiss gave him a look. "Yes, I'm aware Aves is here."

"Don't you wanna give your niece some lovin'?" Qrow asked.

"If I take her will you shut up?" Weiss asked sassily.

"I guess?" Qrow answered with a question.

Both adults were acting strangely, and Weiss wanted to get to the bottom of it as soon as possible. Weiss whisked the baby into her arms. Even though she was irritated, she switched to maternal mode the moment Aves touched her porcelain skin.

With her secured, Weiss made her way over to the middle of the room. Her heart almost sank when she saw something in the corner. It was a long, narrow box shape made of the finest mahogany that was dyed blue.

She gulped and slowly approached the object, pleased to hear it was silent, although that made her more nervous.

 _This… this can't be… is it?_

Pushing away her thoughts, Weiss carefully lifted the lid, her anxiety increasing tenfold.

She couldn't hold her mouth to stifle a gasp. Tears invaded her eyes and rolled down her face as she took in the image.

It was Winter.

She looked so peaceful.

Her hair was draped over her delicate body and not in the usual bun she normally adorned. Weiss always loved it when Winter's hair was down, she looked so graceful. She was in her normal combat outfit, her skin almost matching the same pallor, so that was like a confirmation that she was no longer alive, but it looked like she was sleeping...

Like she hadn't suffered such a terrible death.

"W-why is she…"

Why did they keep her here? Seeing Winter like this hit a painful pang in her heart.

It was that moment Weiss realized the last words her sister breathed to her was "I love you."

The heiress had to stifle her sobs from crying out. Some part of her felt like Winter would wake up and talk to her.

To tell her she was okay.

But she knew in her heart that was a tortuous fantasy.

Wilhelmina took a deep breath. "We didn't know what to do."

Qrow chimed in, his voice full of sorrow. "She never told us what she wanted to be done with her corpse when she died, so she's here until we figure out what would be best."

Weiss bit her lip, her eyes not able to pry away from her sister. "I know what she wanted," she revealed as she recalled the memory. "Blake and I both know."

"Really?" Wilhelmina asked in exasperation. "She told you?"

"It was a conversation we had a few years ago," Weiss' voice wavered, her orbs still fixed on her sister. A gentle finger swept a stray bang away from Winter's face. "Don't worry," she murmured. "We'll give you what you wanted. I promise."

 _I never break my promises,_ Weiss thought. _You know that._

Aves started to whine in Weiss' arms and reached out for Winter, her red eyes calculating Winter's resting face. Weiss took that as her cue to lower Aves closer to her mother. Aves went silent when her tiny fingers grasped her mother's white tresses.

The day before, Aves yanked on Weiss' hair so hard it was almost pulled out of the roots. But this time, Aves was so calm and careful, like when she handled Blake's cat ears.

Weiss had never seen that look on Aves' face before. It was like her niece was trying to decide how to feel. Of course, she was too young to understand what was happening, but babies had special connections to their mothers, and Aves was no different.

The heiress lowered Aves even closer to Winter, thinking the baby needed to be near her mother.

Soon enough, the baby sat inside the narrow box with her mom and grabbed her hand. Qrow noticed what Aves was doing and it took all his self-control not to break down in sobs.

Aves gave Winter's limp hand three gentle squeezes and then she waited for four in return.

But they never came.

Aves gave a weak whine and desperately squeezed three more times with both tiny hands. This time she was rougher, as rough as a baby could manage.

But there was still no response from her unnaturally still mother.

Aves let out blood-curdling sobs and Weiss realized the baby knew something was horribly wrong. She quickly whisked Aves out of the resting place and handed her back to Qrow, regretting her decision to let Aves interact with her deceased mother.

"It's okay, Aves," Qrow murmured softly over her bawling. "Look," he grasped her tiny hand and squeezed it softly three times. "See? It's okay…"

The action seemed to make her calm down a little, but she was still whining and whimpering, causing Zwei and the others to be in distress.

Weiss ignored the tears pouring out of her eyes and carefully shut the lid on the coffin. She silently promised Winter again that she would give her exactly what she wanted.

"I'm sorry, Weiss," this time, her mom apologized for something else. "I didn't want you to see her like this."

"No, i-it's okay," Weiss replied. "I get it."

She was glad she found out her sister was kept secretly in this room.

Now she could give Winter what she wanted after death.

* * *

"So, papa Schnee," Yang began. "When are we allowed to go back to Beacon?"

Blake facepalmed. "Yang, don't call him that."

"What?" the blonde asked. "He's technically my father-in-law," she raised a brow in suggestive emphasis.

"Yang-"

"It's okay, Blake," Wilford assured. "I'm just glad Yang is treating my daughter well."

Ruby wanted to get back on topic. She knew they had to get back to Beacon sooner or later and would like to know when exactly.

"Back to Yang's question, when can we go back?"

Wilford seemed troubled as he rubbed a hand through his white hair. "Listen," he leaned in on the granite counter as he stood across from them. "The real reason we wanted you to come here wasn't to meet Aves."

"Huh?!" they yelped in unison.

Wilford nodded. "You know how that bug was planted in your room?"

"Yeah?" Yang wasn't sure where he was going with this.

"The enemy was more than likely listening to every single conversation you had," Wilford informed the group. "Including the one you had with Qrow. The one about coming here."

Blake's amber eyes were wide and disbelieving. "We put you in danger!"

"No," Wilford shook his head. "That's the exact opposite of what you did."

Suddenly, it all clicked for Ruby.

"You're prepared," Ruby sent the man a smirk.

Yang thinly gasped when she had the epiphany while Blake's jaw dropped, her amber eyes still disbelieving.

Wilford nodded to confirm their thoughts.

"Cinder is coming."

And they were ready for revenge.

* * *

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	76. The Element of Surprise

**FFnet is being stupid again. If you didn't get the notification for the last chapter, you might want to go back and read it.**

* * *

Blake soared straight at Weiss, who was about to block an attack from a pack of glowing white beowolves.

Before the first swipe, Blake managed to tap her sister on the shoulder and made her disappear into thin air as she glided passed the black cloud that was left behind.

The blood-faunus somersaulted to a halt and whipped around with her cat-like reflexes. Weiss appeared by her side a split second later, her rapier poised at their opponent.

Winter stood across the room, the flooring a dazzling white. She almost blended into the white background. Her azure orbs were emphasized due to their popping color. Winter clutched her weapon, her eyes narrowing in frustration, but there was also a hint of admiration.

"Very well," Winter said and called off the beowolves, which caused them to dissipate. "You win."

"What?!" Weiss snapped. "You can't just give up during a sparring match. The real enemy would _kill_ you. You can't take this lightly."

Winter found it amusing that she was being lectured by her little sister.

"I have a feeling you two will be just fine," Winter informed. "Your teamwork is phenomenal, especially when Blake uses her teleportation ability."

"It does go well with your semblance," Weiss admitted. "Just don't overdo it, okay?"

"Don't worry about it," Blake sheathed Gambol Shroud on her back.

Whether they told her or not, Blake would always be hell-bent on protecting her sisters. Her own safety came second.

Winter sensed Blake wasn't taking her advice seriously. "Blake, we mean it."

"Then the same goes for you," the aristocrat countered. She'd seen in the past how much her older sister would exert herself for others. "Take your own advice. One day you might go too far."

Winter didn't seem troubled when Blake trailed off, knowing what she meant to say.

"What do you want to happen when you die?" Winter questioned.

"Don't say such things," Weiss said.

"This is a conversation we must have," Winter informed. "Us purebloods are always in danger. And some morons think poor Blake is a pureblood as well, so in case something happens to us, this conversation is necessary."

"I never really thought about it," Blake admitted. "I mean… we're so young, so me dying isn't something I think about much."

Weiss weighed her sister's words and sighed. She was with Blake on this one. Which was ridiculous, considering how many times her life was almost taken so far.

"What about you, Winter?" Weiss asked. "Have you given it thought?"

"Yes…" Winter murmured, a faint smile present.

"Well?" Blake asked.

"I wish to be cremated," Winter revealed.

The younger siblings seemed slightly taken aback from the revelation.

"Why not buried?" Weiss asked. It was a good question. She'd known several people that have been buried in the past, but not cremated.

Winter got a mischievous glint in her azure eyes. "If I'm buried…" she slowly approached the pair and spread her arms out teasingly and clawed the two softly. "Then I'll become a zombie!"

Blake couldn't help but faintly laugh from the lame joke while Weiss flicked Winter's forehead, causing her to recoil.

"Ow…" the eldest rubbed the red spot on her forehead.

The heiress faintly smiled. "Vampires may be real, but zombies are straight out of fiction."

Winter stifled a laugh from her response. "That's true. Father would have killed all of them _again_ if that were the case."

There was a silence that followed, the younger siblings still processing Winter's request after death.

"Where?" Blake asked, breaking the silence. "Where would you want your ashes?"

"The ocean," Winter replied without a second thought. "I want to be spread in the ocean."

"Why?" Weiss asked. The family had no special connection to any oceans, so she was curious as to what made Winter say that.

"It's untouched and pure," Winter said with a smile. "I've always wanted to go there. From the pictures I've seen, it seems so calm and inviting…"

Blake and Weiss only weighed her words, thinking the ocean was truly a beautiful place.

"What about you two?" Winter asked. "Where do you want to be when you die?"

Weiss grabbed her hand without thought and squeezed it. "With you of course."

Winter looked imploringly at Blake, who had a smile as she grabbed Winter's free hand.

"I'll go where both of you go."

"See?" Winter smiled and ruffled both of their heads, something she never did until she met Qrow. "We'll _always_ be together, in life and death. So don't worry too much about it."

Weiss sighed. "I guess you're right."

"Of course I am," Winter replied and poised her weapon, causing her younger siblings to jump back. "Now let's get back to business."

The younger siblings nodded, readying their weapons to strike.

* * *

"Hey…"

A soft voice pulled her out of the dream that was a flashback. Weary azure orbs glanced up to find a concerned Blake staring, her cat ears flattened on her head.

"Hey," Weiss tiredly greeted after yawning. "Did I wake you?"

They had a hectic day yesterday, so the team needed a good night's sleep especially since they are going to fight the enemy soon.

It didn't take Weiss long to realize that she was being hugged from behind by Yang. Overnight, their positions must've changed. Since her girlfriend was asleep, Weiss was pleased that her usual iron grip was much looser around her torso. Yang's chin was gently set on top of her head, her deep breaths accompanied by her steady heartbeat.

Blake pulled the sheets above the two and she hesitantly broke out of Ruby's embrace to scoot closer to her sister in the middle of the bed. She sensed she was troubled and wanted to provide comfort.

There were a lot of things to worry about, so Blake understood her sister's anxiety. The woman who murdered their sister was coming and they didn't know when.

But she was coming.

That fact alone made Blake pissed, excited, and terrified at the same time.

Still, she supposed it was better to fight in numbers and alongside her teammates, although she'd rather not put them in danger. The more she thought about it, the more logical it seemed to gather more allies. The one thing she wanted to avoid at all costs was the loss of another loved one.

Fighting with friends and family seemed like the way to do it.

"Blake?"

Blake snapped out of her thoughts. "Is there something wrong?"

"It's Winter," Weiss admitted. "We have to give her what she wanted," her tone lowered in conviction. "No matter what."

"We will," the blood-faunus assured and squeezed her hand. "When everything is settled down, we'll make sure of it."

Weiss felt immensely better knowing they were in this together. It gave them something to look forward to in the future to honor Winter's wish.

"Ri-agh!"

The clutches around her torso tightened to their usual iron grip. Weiss knew it was too good to last as the voice behind her mumbled. "Mmmm, princess… you smell so nice…"

Weiss would have found the position romantic if she wasn't being crushed to death. She tried to squirm out of her grasp, but it was like every time she moved, the grip only tightened and made it worse on her ribs. "Y-Yang, yo-you're crushing m-me."

But Yang only nuzzled into the crook of her girlfriend's neck, still murmuring under her breath. "No… Don't go…"

"For dust's sake…" Weiss was trapped in her girlfriend's arms, completely immobilized. At least the grip stayed the same, but it was a little hard to breathe.

"Yang!" Blake shouted in a whisper. "Get up!"

Watching her sister struggle in a snake-like death grip worried her.

"One sec…" Yang's face didn't even furrow, her nose gently exhaling on Weiss' ear.

The sensation sent a shiver up Weiss' spine. It made her forget how to breathe for a moment, although she was struggling to do just that.

Blake frowned and lifted her arm out from under the blankets, effectively smacking Yang upside the head.

Immediately, one of Yang's arms released Weiss as she rubbed her head. "Ow?! What the hell was that for?!"

The heiress took that as an opportunity to roll over to Blake's protective embrace. The aristocrat held her gently, a frown still present as she checked her sister's ribs. For a moment, she thought she was exaggerating if an injury was possible, but then remembered all the times she was crushed by her partner. Thankfully, Weiss' ribs were still intact, and she gave a relieved sigh before glaring at Yang.

"For almost killing my sister!" Blake yelped. "Seriously, be careful. You're stronger than you think."

"She's right," Ruby seemed to have woken up. "You tend to go overboard with your hugs sometimes."

"I'm sorry, princess," Yang apologized. "That wasn't the best way to wake up, huh?"

"Almost being crushed to death?" Weiss asked in feigned anger, causing Yang to look guilty. Weiss then smiled, no joking present. "Please, there are worse ways to wake up."

That seemed to cheer up her girlfriend as she beamed a grin and pulled her in for a tame hug. "You're so adorable I couldn't resist!"

Weiss just laid there and accepted her girlfriend's coos. It was like she was treated like a kitten.

Ruby slowly rose up from the bed and stretched after yawning. "You guys ready to train?"

That made Blake shoot up from her comfortable spot, amber eyes went wide as she lurched forward and yanked down the blankets. "Let's go."

Yang's teasing was demolished the moment her sister spoke. "Right," she released Weiss and sat up. "We gotta do our best."

Weiss was the last to hop out of bed, pleased to see her teammates were taking this seriously. The battle coming up would be dangerous and now they had to prepare for the unexpected.

The plan was to join the purebloods and Qrow to spar. Qrow was going to give them pointers and advice on how to handle Cinder, including Mercury and Emerald.

After the girls geared up for combat and grabbed their weapons, they headed for the pristine training room. Not surprisingly, the adults were standing in the middle of the arena waiting for them.

If they were honest, the vampire sisters wanted to watch their parents spar. It had been a long time since their last training session with the family, so they wanted to see if they got even better in combat.

It still amazed them how well they worked together.

"Today we're coming up with multiple attack combinations," Qrow informed as he slammed his sword on the marble floor. "Fighting in pairs is more effective and will provide an edge."

"We have some combinations already," Ruby stated. "We can show you."

"Please do," Wilhelmina chimed. "Keep in mind we will also be creating new ones."

"That's right," Wilford added. "The enemy won't see it coming."

"We will win with the element of surprise," Qrow announced.

Blake smirked, she was beginning to like this tactic. She could easily blend into the shadows, so if they were depending on surprise, she was ready.

"Let's do this," Yang said, cocking her gauntlets with her fists held up.

Without warning, Qrow launched himself at the four and glided across the room with his sword ready to strike.

* * *

 **Lez go kick some aaaaaasssssss!**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	77. Way to Kill the Mood

**Sorry this is late. Stuff happened. RIP Anthony**

* * *

No one ate breakfast before starting their rigorous training regimen. Everyone in the castle trained for several hours and were left exhausted.

Several new attack combinations had been performed and perfected as a result.

They had to admit, some of the combinations were pretty clever and they couldn't wait to use them in real battle.

After all that difficult training, everyone crashed and took naps, not even having the energy to eat. Team RWBY woke up a few hours later in the afternoon in the bed they had slept in together since coming to the castle.

It was comforting and refreshing to sleep together as a team. The members knew for a fact they'd miss sleeping next to each other since Beacon's beds weren't nearly big enough to fit four people.

For now, they enjoyed every second, living in their personal haven for a little while longer.

The grumbles of their stomachs made them get up to find something to eat, their muscles aching in protest.

Currently, everyone in the castle including Aves were in the kitchen. Since Wilhelmina already made Ruby and Yang breakfast, Wilford took the liberty of making them lunch.

Qrow helped him out since he knew what his relatives liked to eat. Ruby got a turkey sandwich with a side of strawberries, while Yang received a chicken sandwich with a side of potato chips. Afterwards, Qrow made his own meal and grabbed some fruit for Aves.

The vampires of the house simply drank some blood that was in the refrigerator. Their meals were finished in a few seconds, while the humans took a little longer to eat.

Still, everyone grinned when they watched Qrow sit next to Aves and try to feed her a small blueberry while she was in her high chair. Zwei sat next to the pink chair in amusement, his broad snout in the air and watched the baby's every move.

He was already very protective of Aves.

It was so relieving Aves didn't need to drink blood to survive. Just watching her eat human food made the vampires happy and jealous at the same time.

After a few chews, Aves spit out the blue orb, some bits sputtering on Qrow's face.

"I take it she doesn't like blueberries," Yang observed, amusement in her tone when she watched Aves scrunch her face in disgust.

Qrow frowned and wiped his face with his sleeve. "Come on, Ave. You gotta eat somethin'!"

Ruby hopped out of her seat with a strawberry in hand. "Try this," she held out the treat.

Blake smirked. "Maybe Aves will have her cousin's taste in food."

"She's doomed…" Yang muttered.

Qrow plucked the strawberry out of her hand and hovered over his daughter's mouth.

But Aves just stared at the red fruit, seemingly in awe at how different it looked.

"That's not how you do it!" Ruby exclaimed and yanked the fruit out of his grasp. "Gimme that."

"Hey!" Qrow yelped.

"Watch and learn," the leader smirked and started to zoom the fruit in front of her cousin.

Aves' head whipped back and forth, her short white hair flowing behind her. Her jaw was agape, and her red eyes were firmly on the food. Ruby smiled and made plane noises. "Here comes the plane~" she went straight for Aves' mouth, and when the fruit reached her taste buds, Ruby made a "Rraaaaar-pshhhhh" noise.

Aves seemed deep in thought like she was debating if she liked the fruit or not. Everyone leaned in with anticipation to see if she liked it.

Their hopes were confirmed when Aves beamed a giddy smile and chewed the fruit greedily. She clapped her hands a few times in delight and opened her mouth after she swallowed. It reminded them of a baby bird begging its mom for food.

"Alright, alright," Qrow gave in. "You're good at this, Ruby."

Ruby already went back to her seat to finish her food. "I know."

"I want to feed her!" Wilhelmina chirped and grabbed Qrow's shoulder. "May I?"

Even though it was a question, it seemed like Wilhelmina would kill him if she wasn't given permission. Her tone was lowered, suggesting she would feed Aves anyways if he said no.

"Go ahead," Qrow replied, his tone even. "Don't let her choke."

Wilhelmina beamed a smile, all signs of threat now gone. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Qrow entrusted his daughter with Wilhelmina and went back to his meal, thankful she gave him a chance to finish eating. There'd be plenty of other times to spend quality bonding time with his daughter. That is, if Wilhelmina ever gave them space.

Ruby and Yang finished their meals. The blonde glanced at the vampire sisters with a grin. "C'mon. Rubes and I wanna take you somewhere!"

"Huh?" Blake asked. "Where would that be?"

Ruby grabbed Blake's arm and led her away. "You'll see~"

"Where in Remnant would you take us?" Weiss huffed. "You can't possibly know any places around here."

Yang followed her sister's lead and held Weiss' hand to lead her out of the room. "You'll see."

To their surprise, Ruby and Yang didn't lead them out of the castle. Instead, they led them to an all too familiar room that didn't hold many… pleasant memories.

The vampire ballroom.

"We can tell you guys hate this room," Yang informed.

"Then why bring us here?" Blake asked. Just standing in it made her uncomfortable.

"To make a good memory in it for once!" Ruby chirped.

Ruby held out her hand to Blake, offering a dance. Blake smiled and accepted the gesture as the two glided around the room. Blake kept her hand around Ruby's frail waist while Ruby's free hand clung to her shoulder. They were relatively close as they spun around the room, letting slip a few giggles.

Blake easily lost herself in the dance. Ruby's silver eyes seemed to melt away all her worries. The fact that she was in a room full of bad memories didn't matter.

Because right now, the perfect one was created as she twirled around with her girlfriend.

All those people that talked down on Blake because of her blood-faunus heritage…

All those people that gave her crap for not being a 'real' Schnee…

Now it didn't matter and if Blake could, she'd tell those assholes to suck it.

Yang held out her hand to her girlfriend, but Weiss protested.

"There's no music…"

On cue, music started to blare from the speakers. Yang knew who responsible and silently thanked Wilford for that.

"Now?" Yang's hand was left hanging.

Weiss faintly smiled and grasped her girlfriend's hand. "Now."

The music wasn't fast, but it was slow, so it created a more romantic atmosphere.

Being with Yang like this made Weiss forget all the bad things that happened in the ballroom.

All those nasty suitors.

The damned pureblood.

Now that she thought about it, Weiss never played the 'game' with Yang. They never played games with each other when it came to their feelings.

Back when Weiss was forced to talk with suitors, she'd silently add and subtract 'points' they'd need to impress her.

There was no need for that bullcrap with her girlfriend.

And she couldn't be happier.

The couples swayed to the beat like that for a while and made sure to take it slow.

Ruby sensed a pair of wandering eyes on the sidelines and glanced up, interested to see it was her uncle giving her a thumbs up.

Qrow was the ultimate wingman.

As soon as she saw him, he vanished and scurried out of the room. He didn't want to be in the way when all his 'kiddos' were having the time of their lives.

Qrow had witnessed every single party the vampire sisters endured for the sake of their race. He tried to make them more entertaining and even dragged Winter away from it one time. Just watching those people having needless chit chat sent shivers up his spine.

He was pleased to see his kiddos finally genuinely smiling in that room.

The other smiles had been forced up until that point.

The ladybug and freezerburn duos simply spun around for a while. Their grins never left their faces.

Yang pulled her girlfriend close and whispered. "It definitely wasn't a mistake to clobber that beowolf."

Weiss faintly chuckled, knowing she was referring to the beowolf that tried to attack her in Vale when they first met.

"And it wasn't a mistake to yell at you…"

That earned a laugh from Yang.

Blake smiled calmly at her leader. "Thank you for doing this, Ruby."

"It's my pleasure," Ruby assured. "When you talked about this room, you seemed really distressed. Yang and I wanted to do something about that, you know? It'd be one less room to avoid."

"It means more to me than you think," Blake replied. "It really does."

Ruby didn't know what exactly happened in this ballroom, but it's beauty now meant something, at least to Blake.

It used to just be there.

It just… existed.

Now it actually had a meaning.

And it was all thanks to her girlfriend.

The girl's taller stature allowed Ruby to easily nuzzle her head in the crook of her girlfriend's neck. The aristocrat leaned her chin on top of Ruby's brunette tresses and swayed slightly to the rhythm.

"I'm glad…" Ruby murmured softly as she wrapped her arms around her partner.

Blake smiled and pulled Ruby close.

And let the music answer for her, allowing a comfortable silence to follow.

Yang noticed Weiss was enjoying herself and wanted to spoil her even more. As Weiss was swaying to the beat and leaning against her, Yang quite literally swept her off her feet, eliciting a weak yelp.

"Wh-what're you doing?!" Weiss tried to escape her arms, but Yang held her close.

"Relax princess," the blonde murmured. "Let me do this."

For once, Weiss obeyed, and her stiff muscles loosened as she was held bridal style. It was a little embarrassing especially since Blake was there and sent her a knowing smirk.

Heat rushed to her face and she immediately broke eye contact, electing to focus on her girlfriend alone.

Surprisingly, Yang was gentle and didn't give her the bone-crushing she was used to. It felt a little awkward to Weiss, she felt like a baby being rocked to a slow beat.

But Yang seemed to like it, so she decided to keep her mouth shut in order to please her girlfriend.

She'd do anything to keep that cheeky grin on her face and even suffer some embarrassment.

It was like that for several seconds until each member heard a screech in their ears.

From the sudden noise, Yang yelped in shock and accidentally dropped Weiss on the floor.

"Ow!" the heiress yelped as she rubbed her rear from the hard fall. "Don't drop me!"

"S-sorry about that, princess! That noise caught me off guard!" Yang tried to justify. "Are you okay?"

Weiss sighed from her girlfriend's hopelessness. "Yeah."

After Yang leant a hand to help her girlfriend up, the ladybug duo stopped dancing and now their senses were alert. The team had been expecting something to interrupt them. A mood like that couldn't last forever.

"What is it?" Ruby asked the room.

A voice chimed in their ears. From what they could tell, it was Qrow.

He said his next line calmly and collectively.

"She's near."

* * *

 **The chapter title is what I was thinking when Qrow rudely interrupted the ships that were being SHIPPED. Way to kill the mood, Qrow.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	78. The Vows

Team RWBY was standing in the middle of the pure white training room. By their side was Qrow, Wilford, and Wilhelmina.

Each person in the room suppressed their aura and zehn in order to disguise their presence and catch the enemy off guard. The seven of them held out their weapons and directed them at the glistening white double doors before them.

All their training so far would finally be put to the test.

"This zehn is overwhelming," Qrow noted with a hint of hesitation in his voice. "It's even more intense than when Winter and I fought them."

Beads of sweat rolled down their faces from the information. Team RWBY looked at each other, a similar thought running through their minds. Their enemy had definitely gotten more powerful after their last encounter.

Qrow knew Winter was alarmed when they last fought, but now anxiety crept into his body. He almost doubted his forces, but as he gazed at his allies, he knew those worries were a waste of time.

He could practically feel their determination lingering in the air.

There was some shuffling behind the door.

Before anyone knew it, the hefty doors tore off their hinges and crashed on the marble floor like sacks of potatoes.

Three people were now in view. The all too familiar menacing woman stood between her lackeys.

The first face they saw wasn't familiar to any of them, except one person.

Weiss gasped in shock. "It's you!"

The man with red hair thrust his sword into the floor, a pissed off glower present. His voice was deep and a grimm mask adorned his face, just like in their last encounter.

"You thought you killed me, you damn Schnee!"

"Who is that?" Wilhelmina asked. "You almost killed him?"

Everyone was confused, to say the least, especially her parents.

The bull faunus adjusted his grimm mask after gripping his weapon. "I'm going to make you pay for what you did, you bitch!"

Yang's blazing aura flared from the comment. Her gentle lilac eyes already shifted red as her fists tightened so hard her fingers turned white. Her aura practically suffocated everyone in the room, and Weiss knew it took all of her girlfriend's willpower not to pounce.

Meanwhile, Ruby and Blake tried to wrap their minds around his words. They gathered the bull faunus was referring to one of the nights Weiss went berserker on multiple White Fang hideouts.

Little did they know, Weiss had frozen him solid a long time ago and she wondered how he had survived. He must be a strong opponent to have lived through one of her berserker rampages.

Back then, she was so hell-bent on finding Cinder she lost sight of what she stood for.

But now the enemy was right in front of her.

"Patience, Adam," the woman next to him said.

Weiss' eyes slanted in defiance. "How'd you survive?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," Adam scoffed.

* * *

 _Flashback..._

After blending into the shadows, Cinder finally appeared in the iced-over White Fang hideout once it was clear.

The Shadow with Red Eyes wasn't present and was no longer a threat in the glazed over hideout, so she took in the damaged building with all its glory.

Ice was _everywhere_. The ceiling, walls, and the floor weren't left unscathed. As Cinder strolled through the blindingly white and blue building, there were several guards she noticed were frozen solid.

But one of them, in particular, caught her eye.

The bull faunus.

She knew him. They had worked together back when she was part of the White Fang. She recalled his name was Adam.

She stared at the ice sculpture and decided to save him. For one reason and one reason only.

After flaring a controlled flame, the ice that engulfed Adam began to fade away.

Adam wasn't frozen over for very long, so it was easy to breathe again once his head was free. However, he wasn't expecting to see this particular woman in front of him.

"What the hell are you doing here, Cinder?"

"I require your strength," Cinder said evenly, still working on melting the ice around his body.

"You want me to help you?" Adam asked, not liking her reason. "In case you didn't realize, I was frozen because of you in the first place!" he growled. "Why would I help _you_ , a traitor?!"

"Because you owe me, you fool!" Cinder replied with the same bark in her tone. "You should have died if I didn't come along."

Now completely free, Adam dusted himself off and turned around to walk away.

"Yeah, no. I'm leaving-"

Suddenly, Cinder appeared in front of him, her eyes flaring a menacing red. She grabbed him by the shoulder and made his body erupt into flames, causing him to drop to his knees.

"Agh!" Adam screeched while trying to kill the fire that engulfed his body. "What the-agh!"

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake the flames, even if he flared his aura.

"You _will_ help me," Cinder glared down at him. "Whether you want to or not."

* * *

 _Present…_

"Cinder!" Yang seethed, noticing a presence missing. "Where's Emerald?!"

Although Yang didn't care about the girl, she wanted to know. The bull faunus named Adam was next to Cinder and Mercury flanked her other side. It was strange to see the green-haired girl missing. Normally she was part of the typical trio, at least that's what Yang thought.

Cinder darkly chuckled. "I had no use for her. She was nothing more than a burden."

 _Did she kill her?_ Yang asked herself. _After what Emerald's been through with her? Weren't they allies? Then again… It's possible she's lying. She killed Winter, so she's definitely capable of lying about something like this. Still, that means it's entirely possible that she killed one of her lackeys… Even in the reports, it said she killed people in the White Fang because she was bored. How DARE she! First Winter and now..._

Before Yang could pounce, Weiss held her hand and kept her back. After a reassuring glance, Yang took a deep breath to compose herself.

Cinder seemed uninterested in what anyone had to say. "I didn't expect a family gathering."

Her true targets were the purebloods, everyone else was in the way. She thought she would be the one catching her prey off guard, so them being ready to fight surprised her. Although she viewed the team as more of a nuisance than an actual threat.

"Surprised, you _cunt_?"

From the comment, the air easily grew heavy.

Cinder's eye twitched from the insult hurled at her from Wilhelmina. Of all things she had been called, that word had never been used.

Everyone was shocked at the word. It was said with such venom and menace that it made even her allies were scared of her.

 _Holy shit,_ Yang's jaw dropped. _Mama Schnee is a badass!_

"Wilhelmina," Wilford called sternly. "We need to be careful."

Yang scoffed. "She's tellin' it like it is."

The Schnee daughters could only stare at their mother in bewilderment. They had never heard their mom _this_ angry before. Sure, she scolded them every now and then, but right now…

Wilhelmina was pissed off beyond all comprehension.

They understood her anger and were interested to see how it would make her more powerful in a fight.

Their mother often used her emotions as an edge if she fought in serious battles. No matter how frustrated or angry she got, she _always_ kept it under control and her emotions in check.

Wilhelmina's eyes shifted red, tears already spilling over. Images of Winter flashed through her mind. What she must've felt like before she died in the cold snow. The feeling of helplessness...

Now Wilhelmina was face-to-face with her daughter's murderer.

And she wanted blood.

 _Winter,_ Wilhelmina thought as she poised her thin but deadly rapier at the enemy. _I vowed that I'd kill this woman to avenge you,_ her blood-red eyes narrowed. _The time has finally come._

The Schnee family had always wielded rapiers, though each one was unique. Wilhelmina's was the thinnest and sharpest of them all but packed much more dust than the rest.

Meanwhile, Wilford's was bulkier, as he relied more on zehn than anything with his vast reserves of it. Weiss' rapier used to be Winter's and was slightly thicker than her mother's, though was the longest.

Cinder kept her cool, as she was more than willing to give her the fight she was looking for. After snapping her fingers, she sprinted directly to Wilhelmina.

It happened in a split second. Cinder's blade and Wilhelmina's thin rapier clashed in the center of the room, the two battling for dominance. Wilford moved forward to help his wife, but a pure white ghostly beowolf jumped in front of him, blocking him before he could reach her.

Wilhelmina knew Cinder was using the pureblood power she stole from her daughter to summon her own beowolf. Mrs. Schnee let out a war cry as more tears spilled down her cheeks. She broke off the stalemate, swinging her rapier quickly yet deadly in an attempt to break through their defense and kill Cinder. Neither of them gained any advantage as their original stand-off persisted in a life and death battle.

"Mom!" Weiss yelped and rushed forward to aid her mother in combat.

Blake watched her sister rush off but noticed the bull faunus' daunting gaze was focused solely on Weiss' back. Adam bolted directly to Weiss, who was too focused on her parents to notice she was in danger. Blake reacted on instinct and disappeared into thin air, leaving a black cloud behind.

She reappeared directly behind Weiss just in time to bring her katana up and block Adam's weapon from decapitating her head.

The heiress stumbled away in shock at the sudden sounds of swords clashing right behind her. She turned around. "Blake?!"

"I'm fine!" she grunted, staggering a bit from the impact. "Go help mom and dad!"

She knew how powerful Cinder was. They would need all the help they could get.

"But-"

"Go!"

Seeing that her sister could hold her own against Adam, Weiss nodded and headed to her parents and the main enemy.

Blake focused her attention back on the bull faunus. "You're not laying a finger on my sister!"

"You're not a Schnee!" Adam seethed. "You're just a half-breed!"

Blake brushed off the insult and focused on her opponent's sword locked with her own. She shifted her body and dragged his sword off hers, thrusting her foot into his knee. Adam stumbled forward and fell to one knee from the kick, but quickly recovered and swung his blade in retaliation. The sword connected and cleanly cut straight through his victim, the clone fading from existence as Blake dodged around him.

Adam, however, wasn't fooled as he continued the momentum from his blade around to connect with Blake's weapon again but brought his sheath around the other side and knock it firmly into Blake's face. Blake spun around from the sudden blow, recovering in time to unsheathe Gambol Shroud and block Adam's sword with her katana while the two sheaths met each other on the other side of their bodies.

Yang sensed a ton of aura seeping from Blake's opponent and knew she'd have trouble taking him down. She was about to cock her gauntlets to aid her partner, but a swift kick to the chest stopped her in her tracks, causing her to fumble backward.

The infuriating smirk Mercury wore pissed Yang off even more. She just wanted to help her partner!

Was that too much to ask?

Thankfully, two familiar capes got in her view before she could throw a punch.

"We got this, Yang," Ruby assured. "Go help Blake."

"Don't worry, firecracker," Qrow said. "We'll handle this little douche with no problem. Blake though… she needs help."

"Got it!"

Qrow swung his scythe to make sure he kept Mercury preoccupied as Yang glided over to Blake. She arrived just in time, throwing a punch to block a swing from Adam's sword with her gauntlets that were as hard as steel.

"Hate to break it to ya, bud," the blonde started. "But you're gonna have to go through us to get to her."

Blake felt more relieved when her partner appeared by her side. She was much more confident when she was with her.

Adam snarled and grit his teeth, his fierce gaze not prying away from Weiss, who was locked in struggling combat along with her parents.

"Weiss!" Wilford called and held out his thick rapier. "Ice Trifecta!"

The command clicked instantly in Weiss' head as she saw her father take advantage of Cinder's focus on his wife to freeze her feet to the ground with his typical steel-like durability. The heiress then used her glyphs to hop on top of her father's bulky rapier, landing gracefully on the tip and she bent down low for support and balance.

"Wh-what the?!"

No matter how hard Cinder tried, she couldn't pry her feet out of the ice that glued her to the marble floor. Even the fire she summoned didn't seem to work, as it only produced some annoying steam.

Hearing the call, and knowing they didn't have much time, Wilhelmina swiped both hands at the air, creating a smooth, tiny tube of ice that stood in mid-air.

The glistening tube itself was a tight fit, but for what they had planned, it would work. One end was several feet in front of the daughter-father duo and the other end was where Cinder was stuck.

They spent several hours perfecting this attack combination, so now it was put to the test.

With a grunt, Wilford swung his rapier like a baseball bat, causing Weiss to soar forwards as she jumped off the tip.

On reflex, Weiss straightened herself out as much as possible into a diving position, allowing her to slide into the tube arms first with ease.

As if her father's momentum wasn't enough, the slippery surface caused her to fly even faster at the enemy. Knowing that she was rapidly gaining in speed, Weiss quickly covered the upper half of her body in ice, creating a sharp point of ice in the front. It looked like she was a human arrow that was half encased in ice.

Weiss remembered back when she watched Qrow and Winter practice their signature attack combination. Sometimes, Winter would coat her body with a layer of ice for extra protection, so what she was doing right now was similar.

Her hands acted as the tip of the arrow and she glided out of the tube directly at the enemy. Cinder barely had time to think but managed to pull out the pair of blades strapped to her back in order to block.

As Weiss came shooting out of the tube, she continued to harden the coat of ice on her hands to be even stronger, and she slammed into her opponent with a devastating force. Cinder let out a yelp, causing a smirk to form on Weiss' lips.

The two crashed to the ground, making a dent in the area. The heiress had effectively pinned her opponent to the floor, the coating of ice now all over her body. The process was fast since she wanted her opponent down for the count.

Satisfied to see her frozen solid, she got off Cinder once she stopped struggling and took a defensive stance, her parents joining her. They knew an attack like that wouldn't kill a powerful enemy like her, so they were preparing for another attack.

The ice that covered Cinder's body instantly melted when she erupted in furious flames. It was like she wasn't hit at intense speeds or even absorbed a hit. Like their attack was nothing.

Cinder's eyes flared red as she held up her fingers and snapped them.

"Big mistake."

* * *

 **The chapter title is a throwback to when Cinder vowed to "bring them down" (chapter 37) and when Wilhelmina vowed to kill Cinder (chapter 56). Yay! Both are determined to kill each other!**

 **Thank you to MartunaMajor for helping out with the fight scenes!**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	79. Fierce Struggle

"Big mistake."

Not even a few seconds after Cinder snapped her fingers, there was the unmistakable sound of glass cracking filling the air.

Soon enough, every window in the room shattered to thousands of pieces and scattered on the marble floor.

Dozens of grimm entered through the broken windows while others stalked through the doors that had been knocked off their hinges. There were a few ursa here and there, but beowolves overwhelmed the room. Their snarls and fierce glares pierced the air, waiting for their master's command.

"Please," Wilhelmina scoffed, watching the approaching grimm horde. "We can handle something as small as this."

Although, even as the female pureblood said that, her allies were slightly on edge by the sheer amount of grimm in the room. Everyone stopped fighting and could only stare in shock at the almost overwhelming sight.

Adam and Mercury took advantage of the situation and prepared for their attack-

"Everyone!" Wilford called out. "Frost Monarchy!"

-but their enemies weren't expecting a counter attack so soon.

This specific attack combination did not require everyone's efforts. It involved the pureblood parents, Weiss, and Ruby, but not the rest. However, their allies needed to _know_ what was about to happen in order to not get hurt.

Team RWBY and Qrow began to flare their auras, preparing for what was to come.

Since Qrow fought Cinder once before, he had filled them in on her attack patterns. Luckily, calling for a horde of grimm was something he expected.

From the call, Wilhelmina and Weiss spun the canister of dust on their weapons, switching it to the ice blue color.

Side-by-side, the mother and daughter duo slammed their sharp rapiers to the floor. Ice erupted from the ground and started to cover the entire area in freezing spikes of white. Every inch of the room was completely frozen solid in the ice's path as it gradually made its way through undeterred.

Meanwhile, Wilford created a small glacier in front of him and began chipping off shards to aid in the attack.

Ruby took that as her cue to bolt around the room. Each step she took increased her speed as she used her semblance to the maximum, her red cape flowing behind her. Their opponents had a hard time following the slight glimmer of red. Ruby was simply too fast for the naked eye.

The air was growing unsteady. No doubt thanks to the leader.

Adam stepped forward and tried to attack Ruby to mess up their plan, but Yang's gauntlet blocked him in time.

"You're not gettin' near her, either."

"You're nothing but an annoyance!" Adam seethed.

The blonde cocked her gauntlets to throw him off balance, a sly smirk present. "Mama's the best annoyance around!"

"I can attest to that," Weiss heard the comment and yelled from across the room, prompting her girlfriend to giddily smile.

Yang and Adam persisted in their conflict, neither able to get the better of each other. While Yang's offense made for the best defence, Adam moved with speed and grace.

Soon enough, Ruby's speed allowed her to create a violent whirlwind in the room. The shards Wilford created were picked up and spun around the area. Like planned, the sharp ice shards pierced their opponents' skin.

Mercury tried to kick some out of the way, but he ended up getting grazed all over his body. Cinder managed to seep fire all around her, so most of the shards didn't even touch her, but some bigger pieces cut through. Meanwhile, Adam was far too quick and cut through every shard propelled his way.

Even when Yang and Blake tried to distract him, he still dodged all of them, leaving them to wonder just how skilled their opponent was.

It was hard to even see in the blizzard, and most people had to cover their eyes. The violent wind was too loud to hear anything. By this point, it was hard to advance so much as a step, for both allies and enemies.

When Ruby noticed her allies were almost picked off the ground from the harsh wind she created, she began to slow down and joined her uncle's side, leaving thousands of tiny rose petals in her wake.

In the aftermath, every single grimm was frozen solid in ice sculptures. The ground, walls, and even roof weren't sparred. The multiple ursa and beowolves now just took up some space and were no longer a threat.

Wilhelmina took pleasure in seeing Cinder scowl. "Are you mad?"

Cinder didn't answer and created her usual bow and arrow, holding it out at the pureblood parents and daughter.

Weiss only glared at the woman. "We'll take that as a yes."

* * *

Blake and Yang had their hands full with Adam. The bull faunus was too swift for them to perform their team attack.

So currently they switched off between striking in rapid succession, hoping to fend him off for as long as possible.

Adam jumped back and rushed forward into his next strike to gain momentum. In order to block his swing, Yang cocked her right fist back, not sensing the pure amount of hatred leaking from her opponent.

In the last second, Adam pivoted on his heel and aimed to slice off her arm. The blonde tried to pull back in time, but she wouldn't make it-

It was all too quick for her to know what was going on. One moment, she was fighting the bull faunus, and the next, she was above him, falling in mid-air.

She saw Blake in a stalemate with Adam just below her, their swords clashed together.

Then it all clicked.

Blake made it in time to teleport her.

She wasn't about to let this opportunity go to waste.

With a war cry, she cocked her fist back. The resounding scream alerted Blake as she hopped back, gaining some distance.

Adam didn't have time to block as Yang slammed into him full force. The impact on the ice caused sickening crunch sounds to ring out.

Mercury was sent sprawling to the ground, the sounds of battle erupting all around him.

Before Qrow could take a shot at the downed boy, Mercury kicked his legs up and slammed the bottom of his steel feet against his chin.

The professional hunter stumbled backwards and wiped his chin. "You're as annoying as always."

"Get used to it, old man," Mercury sneered.

"Old man?!" Qrow exclaimed. "I'm a man, but I'm not old."

Mercury scoffed and focused his attention on Ruby. "I see you've recovered."

Ruby smirked, twirling her scythe around to show she was in top condition. "Never been better."

"It's a shame…" Mercury egged her on. "My lady was _this_ close to killing you."

Qrow clenched his jaw and narrowed his red eyes in frustration. Before he could launch himself at the opponent, he heard his niece call out their special move.

"Scythe Swipe!"

From the call, Ruby and her uncle swiped their scythes together in rapid succession. The two quickly moved towards Mercury, who flipped out of their line of fire several times.

They encircled Mercury and cut him up several times, eliciting weak yelps from him. Qrow and Ruby continued like that for several seconds and then the two used the recoil on their guns to jump apart.

Qrow soared at the boy, who readied his leg to block a hard swing. But Qrow was much more powerful and knocked him to the ground.

Meanwhile, Ruby noticed her sister and girlfriend were still having trouble with Adam. With a plan in mind, Ruby used her speed semblance to rush over to their fight, trusting Qrow to handle Mercury.

The leader bolted to the side of the bull faunus and she slyly stuck her foot out ever so slightly. This caused Adam to trip forwards, allowing Yang to land a firm punch against his face. The bull faunus soared backwards and landed on his back with a grunt.

"Thanks, Rubes!" Yang chirped.

"Good job, Ruby," Blake praised as she smiled at her girlfriend.

"No problem!" Ruby beamed and then took a combat stance.

Adam gained his bearings and stood after wiping the blood streaming on his cheek. "That was a cheap shot!"

That might have been true, but Ruby would do _anything_ to protect her teammates.

Even if it meant playing dirty.

Ruby readied her scythe for another attack. "Strawberry Sunrise!"

From the call, Yang rushed Adam and threw several punches at him in rapid succession. The bull faunus managed to dodge most of them, but with the battle taking its toll on his body, a few of her firm fists collided against his shoulder, neck, and then face again.

He braved her ruthless attack and kept absorbing the hits, not at all faltering.

With the final thrust, Yang used the recoil on Ember Celica and instead of hitting her target, swung her fist directly up. Just in time, Ruby was there to soar in the air with the help of Yang's powerful punch and her speed semblance.

In mid-air, Ruby spun with her scythe extended and fell directly toward him.

Adam smirked and held out his blade to block, but that wasn't needed. Before Ruby could land a blow, a random object hit her scythe, knocking her off balance.

"W-whoa!"

Before Adam could retaliate, Blake was there a split second later and teleported her girlfriend out of the way.

Adam's blade sliced through the aristocrat, but then the clone turned to ice, which trapped his sword.

"You have an interesting ability," Adam remarked. "But that…" he tugged on the sheathe. "Doesn't..." he struggled more to break it out of the ice. "Matter!" with a final tug, his sword ripped from the ice in a few seconds, scattering the ice into thousands of pieces.

Yang gasped at the strength he displayed. She couldn't even melt one of the barriers, much less pry a weapon from it. Then again, Blake didn't have the blood related Schnee abilities.

Blake's eyes trailed to the icy floor and she noticed a stray arrow not too far away.

Was that the object that knocked Ruby off balance?

Before she could think about that, a familiar feeling invaded her mind as she dropped to her knees, clutching her cat ears in pain. She could barely pry her eyes open to see her teammates do the same thing.

A constant pounding hit her head like a truck. She couldn't hear anything over the ringing. It was like she was deaf and her vision was hazy, making her feel dizzy.

 _This power…_ Blake thought. _It's…_

Somehow, Weiss managed to speak through the pain and confirmed everyone's thoughts.

"Cardin's!"

The pureblood parents had managed to stay standing and glared at Cinder.

"You killed him too?!" Wilhelmina yelped.

It ticked Cinder off that Wilhelmina showed more guts than the rest of them from the very beginning. She was even one of the last people left standing, so she was a force to be reckoned with.

That infuriated her even more.

Wilhelmina would be her first target.

Cinder lifted her bow up and pulled the arrow back all the way passed her ear and directed the shot at Wilhelmina. Since the pureblood was stunned from Cardin's stolen pureblood power, she was stunned and vulnerable.

Blake's cat ears flattened on her head as she gasped.

No matter how much pain she was in…

There was no way in _hell_ she'd lose someone again!

She would rather die than let that happen!

"Blake!" Ruby yelped in a warning.

Blake barely managed to look up to see Adam bring his sword down on her. She was so busy focusing on her mother that she completely forgot about her own well-being. On instinct, she teleported out of the way and to her mother's line of fire.

Two birds and one stone.

When she did, Cinder released the arrow as it pierced the air.

" **Blake!** " Yang cried, reaching out desperately and trying to get to her in time.

It was unfortunate that Blake didn't have enough time to teleport her mother out of the way, but she could do something else.

Luckily, Blake had just enough time to switch her stance, so the arrow would hit her in a non-vital spot. There was no way she'd let her mom take the deadly hit and chance it.

The sharp arrow struck her right forearm as she weakly yelped from the harsh impact and fell backwards.

Wilhelmina gasped and knelt down beside her daughter, coddling her in her arms.

"Blake?! Blake, sweetie, can you hear me?"

"I'm… okay," Blake tried to assure in a somber tone, her eyes flickering.

"Hold on, sweetheart," desperation tinged Wilhelmina's voice as she hovered a hand over the arrow, intent to use aura transfer.

Seeing her daughter like this made her stomach twist in a knot. Blake was always so confident, so to see her almost lose consciousness with sweat beading on her forehead was a haunting image.

"Don't," Blake grabbed her hand weakly. "Save your aura. I still have some."

Wilford bent down next to his daughter and wife, checking over Blake's injuries. "C'mere."

Wilhelmina cautiously coaxed her daughter in his embrace, knowing she would be safer with him. After standing with Blake in his arms bridal style, he wobbled a bit from the effects of Cinder's invisible attack and shook his head.

Mr. Schnee was about to bring his daughter to a safe area to heal her, but a rush of white caught his attention as it zoomed past him.

During the commotion, they failed to notice Cinder readied another arrow. She had shot it directly at the vampires, but Weiss made it there in time to stop its path with an ice barrier.

Weiss' eyes shot open in a blood-red fury as she glared down Cinder.

"How _dare_ you!"

That woman had messed with her family enough!

Yang seemed even more pissed than her girlfriend. Her aura caught everyone's attention when it started to melt the ice around her. It was so blazing hot and intense that the room was turning more into a sauna than a freezer.

That woman hurt her partner!

Almost killed Blake!

Killed Winter!

There was no way she was getting away with this.

Somehow, Weiss managed to compose herself, only to notice her girlfriend was beginning to fall into a blind rage. Weiss let out a fleeting breath when she realized not even her chilling aura could soothe Yang like it normally could.

"Yang-" Weiss managed to sputter before Yang shot off like a rocket towards Cinder.

Mercury yelped, knowing his master was in danger. "My lady!"

However, Cinder just stood there, seemingly untouchable. Her arms were crossed, and she had a sly smirk. As Yang neared, she gave another war cry, wanting nothing more than to wipe the infuriating smirk off her face.

Out of nowhere, the roof collapsed under a massive impact. Bits and pieces of the ceiling sprawled all over the floor, with shards of ice flying all around the room. Everyone had to dodge out of the way of some particularly big pieces. Yang crawled back desperately and gained her footing, her mouth agape as she wondered what the hell caused this much damage. Thankfully, Wilford managed to dodge every single one and kept his half-conscious daughter out of danger.

However, in the middle of the room, there was a loud thump that rang their eardrums and shook the floor intensely. Everyone wobbled from the sudden earthquake, even Cinder.

There was a large black shadow that would have reached the roof if it was still there. The shadow let out a menacing roar and pounded its fists in the ground.

When the dust settled, they could see exactly what it was.

A furious gorilla grimm.

It roared in a fury, its red eyes searching for the nearest target, only for them to land on Yang.

Yang said out loud what everyone was thinking.

"Shit."

* * *

 **The gorilla grimm (beringel) is here because it was introduced at RTX a few days ago in 2016. Yes, this story is THAT old and I did indeed write it this far ahead of time.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto  
**


	80. Standstill

"Shit."

The furious gorilla grimm roared in anger, it's menacing eyes never leaving Yang, who could only stand there in shock.

The beast's fist was the size of a minivan as it collided with Yang's body. Even though she blocked, the sheer force behind the punch was easily enough to send her sprawling backward with a yelp.

She was about to crash into the unforgiving solid wall but found herself in a pair of supportive arms instead.

The person who caught her kept their balance and slid on the icy floor. It was hard to keep balance, but they managed to and that impressed Yang.

The blonde's eyes flickered open, surprised to see-

"Qrow?"

"You're okay, firecracker," Qrow said softly and gently set her on the ground. "We gotta finish this thing off before it does some serious damage."

Yang nodded, knowing his words rang true. She herself could take a hit like that and absorb it with the use of her semblance, but she didn't know about the others.

Her friends were tough, but they weren't built to absorb hits like she was.

They needed to kill this oversized grimm as soon as possible.

"Wilford!" Wilhelmina yelled. "Heal her _now!"_ she was then hit with a flaming ball of light, eliciting a grunt.

Her tone was something he could never argue with. With the half-conscious Blake in his arms, he scampered out of sight.

Knowing her husband would follow her command, she focused her full attention on Cinder, completely ignoring the gorilla grimm and everything around her.

Out of all the enemies in the room, Cinder was hers and hers alone.

With a war cry, Wilhelmina collided into Cinder once more, earning another glare.

Cinder's blade clashed against Wilhelmina's thin rapier in rapid succession. They came back together on the far side of the room. Even though Wilhelmina had to focus solely on her opponent, she made sure to stay away from the massive grimm and trusted the others to handle it.

Cinder smirked. Not the kind of self-satisfaction, but more to egg her on.

"You don't know when to give up, do you?" Cinder asked in annoyance.

"Not until…" Wilhelmina grunted and slammed her rapier against the other weapon once more. "You're dead!"

Mercury almost stopped Wilford before he could rush out the door with the injured Blake, but Weiss blocked him just in time with her rapier.

"You're not laying a finger on her," Weiss seethed, her tone dripping with conviction.

Mercury could only frown, his leg stuck in the air.

Damn, those Schnee's can be annoying.

Yang appreciated the fact that Weiss was there for her partner when she couldn't be. But right now, her next massive opponent was distracted because of a frantic Ruby, who was encircling the beast.

 _You'll be okay, Blake,_ Yang thought. _We'll take care of this thing for you._

With her eyes flaring red, Yang pumped her fists together and her body erupted in flames. First, her fists flared, then her hair and then her entire body were in a controlled inferno. Qrow took that as his cue to call the next attack.

"Phoenix!"

"Already on it," the blonde smirked as she closed her eyes to concentrate.

It took a little effort, but she managed to transfer half of the controlled flames to Qrow. The professional hunter had flared his aura for protection, so the heat wouldn't harm him. Even though this was a paired attack, her flames could still do some damage to his body. Once he was enshrouded in the yellow and orange light, he shifted into his bird crow form.

The crow was on fire and, as the name implied, looked like a phoenix. The huntsman soared to the sky since the roof had caved in from the beast's unceremonious entrance.

Yang knew they had to hurry, the gorilla had been distracted by her little sister this far. Ruby kept dodging around the grimm with her semblance, but the beast finally managed to grab her like she was a mere fly.

Yang didn't waste any time and threw a few punches at the gorilla's jaw. Luckily, that sent it in a daze and Ruby was released from its iron grip and dropped to the floor.

Once Ruby gained her bearings, she noticed it was her sister who saved her. Yang kept wailing on the grimm, not giving it a second to recover or a chance to retaliate.

Resounding thuds echoed in the castle.

Her semblance was finally at full power.

To aid her sister in the attack, Ruby bolted around the grimm and her sister. Soon enough, red petals scattered all around the area in a mini whirlwind.

With Yang constantly landing blows on the massive grimm and with Ruby's help, the grimm was slowly picked off its massive feet.

Soon enough, Ruby's red whirlwind was so powerful it sent the gorilla soaring passed the roof that was no longer there and into the sky.

The bird on fire was eagerly waiting. Once the red whirlwind died down, Qrow soared above the grimm and silhouetted against the sun. The crow's wings then collapsed into its body as it glided to the gorilla that was flailing in mid-air.

With a shriek, Qrow slammed his sharp beak in the beast's stomach, where no armor was located. The grimm howled in pain and tried to grab the bird, but the world was spinning too fast to understand where anything was.

The moment the beast was pierced by Qrow's beak, the grimm was set on fire, making it howl again. The two were rapidly approaching the cold, hard floor in a dizzying haze.

It looked like a meteor was falling out of the sky.

Once they hit the ground, it was like an earthquake shook Remnant. Ruby and Yang lost their balance from the impact while Wilhelmina and Cinder continued fighting in their vicious rage.

Everything was silent besides the sounds of blades clashing together.

Pieces of ice and dust lingered in the air, creating a large cloud of debris. It was difficult to see through the puff cloud, but Ruby took the silence as a good thing.

Ruby used that as an opportunity to hop on top of the downed grimm and aimed her sniper rifle at its head.

The grimm tried to flail wildly, but it was effectively glued to the ground as it stared into her fearless silver eyes.

Like an executioner, the kill shot rang out.

By the end of it all, the sisters were left to heave for breath. Ruby was known for her endurance, but this battle was starting to wear even her out.

Before they could celebrate, a familiar yelp sounded and was followed by a thump. Yang instantly recognized who it belonged to.

"Weiss!"

They completely forgot about Mercury and Adam in the midst of it all. They knew Wilhelmina was still fighting Cinder, but they failed to realize they left their teammate to handle two opponents.

"You're dead, Schnee!"

Before Adam could slice through the downed Weiss, Qrow zipped in front of her and spun his scythe in a rapid motion, causing the two enemies to stumble back.

"Get up, kiddo," Qrow advised a little harshly. "We don't have time to lay around."

Yang was there in a heartbeat and held out her hand to help her girlfriend stand.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Weiss replied, now on her feet. "Are you? All of you used a lot of aura just now."

The blonde wiped the sweat from her forehead. "It's nothin' we can't handle."

Even though she said that the heiress knew this fight was taking a toll on everyone. She didn't know how long they could last without her father's help. Wilhelmina was able to hold her own, but it was only a matter of time.

Weiss let out a withered sigh. "I'm glad."

Wilhelmina's grunts of effort and clashing of weapons could be heard in the background.

"Go help your mom. We got this."

"Leave it to us!" Ruby exclaimed.

"This one's mine-"

Before Yang could finish her sentence, Mercury rushed her with an infuriating smirk present. She managed to block several kicks from him but was caught off guard when he suddenly dropped to the ground and rocketed a kick to her chin.

The blonde grunted and flew in the air forcefully from the hit, only to backflip in an attempt to recover. Though when she landed, her feet slid out from under her due to the ice, landing unceremoniously on her back.

Ruby was there and took the kick for her sister, eliciting a grunt and she stumbled backward.

"Thanks, Ruby!"

Quickly, Yang cocked Ember Celica and used the recoil to break through Mercury's defenses. After a few hard punches, Mercury found himself on the ground. Before Yang could land a fatal blow, he shot up more white orbs from his boots in a desperate attempt to distract her.

The white lights caused Yang to step back in a blind haze as she took several more unguarded blows. Mercury gathered a horde of them as they encircled his opponent.

Before Mercury could bring his leg down to finish the attack, a threatening white light struck his foot and anchored it to the ground forcefully, causing his white orbs to dissipate.

The sisters looked over to see Weiss send them a faint smile before combining an ice attack with her mother against a furious flame. Yang noticed the two were out of breath, so now she was even more determined to give it her all, even though she was starting to feel the effects of exertion herself.

"Thanks," Yang punched Mercury directly in the nose. "Princess!"

* * *

After shapeshifting and flaring his aura for protection, Qrow was left exhausted.

This fight had dragged out longer than he anticipated.

For now, he elected to keep his battle against Adam at a distance. He used his rifle to dance around his opponent and fired shots in rapid succession, but the bull faunus managed to dodge most of them. If he didn't, he'd simply block them with his sword or even cut the bullets in half.

It was unnerving to Qrow that Adam kept stealing glances behind the professional hunter. That was where Weiss, Wilhelmina, and Cinder were locked in combat.

Obviously, Adam had a grudge against Weiss and Qrow didn't know why. But he wouldn't let the dangerous bull-faunus get anywhere near her.

It seemed like Adam's whole purpose of being there was to kill one of his kiddos.

Qrow didn't miss the fact that all of Adam's attacks held a secret attempt to get passed him and to Weiss.

Finally, Adam went for it when he noticed Qrow was too focused on Weiss to notice his presence.

Qrow cursed himself as Adam slipped passed him at unrivaled speeds.

"Weiss!"

Qrow tried to warn her, but it was too late.

Weiss yelped when Adam threw his deadly sword on her, but then everything disappeared in a black cloud. There was absolute nothingness for a second, but she reappeared next to Qrow in confusion.

It all clicked.

Blake made it there to teleport her just in time as she slammed her katana against Adam's bulky blade.

"Thank god you're okay," Weiss let out a sigh of relief.

Through grit teeth, Blake seethed. "What did I tell you!?"

With newfound determination, Blake managed to beat her opponent and knocked his weapon out of his grasp. Adam cursed under his breath and was about to grab the weapon that clinked on the icy floor, but Blake held her katana to his throat.

In a monotone voice. "Don't even think about it."

"Everyone shut up!"

That was a voice they hadn't heard in a long time. Blake kept the tip of her katana glued to Adam's neck and dared a glance behind her.

It was Emerald.

And she was holding a white blanket her arms.

 _Cinder lied,_ Blake concluded. _Not that I'm surprised,_ her gaze trailed to the white blanket in Emerald's arms. _Wait… Don't tell me…_

Everyone was dead silent with only Emerald's footsteps filling the air as her shoes crunched on the ice.

A million scenarios ran through their minds.

How?

How did they find her?

How did they even know about her?

They were sure to keep her very existence an utmost kept secret.

Was she really…?

"Nobody move," Cinder said slyly, a satisfied smirk present.

Everyone was deathly still.

Emerald casually strolled over to Cinder and quite literally tossed the mass to the other pair of waiting arms.

Wilhelmina gasped thinly, worried the contents of the blanket would hit the floor. Qrow looked like he had been shot as he clenched his jaw in worry and frustration.

Was it really…?

Thankfully, Cinder caught it and rocked it back and forth, gently patting it on its back.

"Shhhh…" Cinder hushed darkly, her voice echoing in the room. "You'll wake the baby."

* * *

 **From Yang's words at the beginning of the chapter… shit.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	81. Hostage Situation

**Heads up! No chapter next week. My friends SylverLining and NobleMETA are getting married in PA, so I'm traveling there as a bridesmaid!**

* * *

"Shhhh…" Cinder hushed darkly, her voice echoed in the room. A sinister grin etched on her face as she gazed down at the baby. "You'll wake the baby."

They couldn't believe it.

How did she find out?

Team RWBY didn't even know Aves existed for a while, so there was no way Cinder knew from the bug she planted in their room.

"Taking a hostage," Qrow observed, his grip firmly on his scythe. "That's low. Even for you."

"Nobody move and the baby won't get hurt," Cinder warned. "If you try _anything_ funny, she will pay for your actions."

She was Qrow's baby no less. If Winter was still alive, she would have no doubt become his wife.

She murdered his beloved in cold blood.

And now his helpless baby girl was in the arms of a monster.

For the first time in a long time, Qrow had no idea what to do.

Team RWBY's and the pureblood parents' eyes were firmly on Aves. Their feet were frozen in fear and not from the icy floor.

Aves let out a high-pitched whine and flailed her tiny arms, clearly not liking the unfamiliar presence.

Her fragile fingers made their way to her captor's ominous black hair. Aves' gentle red eyes widened, not liking the color. The black tresses weren't something she was used to.

She was always surrounded by a friendly white.

"Let her go!" Wilhelmina tried to demand. "She has nothing to do with this!"

"Know your place, wench," Cinder seethed. "You're the last one who should be talking."

Aves tugged on Cinder's hair rather forcefully, causing her to curse under her breath. She wasn't expecting a feisty baby.

The irritating baby continued to clutch the black locks, clearly in distress. Meanwhile, Weiss couldn't help but smirk. Now someone else knew how much it hurt.

Even though they shouldn't be thinking it, everyone was happy to see Aves fight back in her own way.

Aves was surprisingly strong for being so fragile.

Blake saw this as her chance since the enemy seemed distracted and was attempting to unclutch the baby's grip from her hair.

Her feet shifted ever so slightly, but that was enough to get Cinder's unyielding attention.

"Don't even _think_ about using your teleportation ability!"

Cinder had snapped and summoned another horde of beowolves by using Winter's pureblood power. The pack glowed a ghostly white and remained by their master's side, waiting for her command.

It infuriated the Schnee family and Qrow that she had the _audacity_ to use their pureblood power.

It was like she did it out of spite.

They felt completely helpless.

Blake let out a harsh breath, knowing she might have lost her first and only chance to save her niece.

 _What do we do?!_ the blood-faunus panicked. _Why's she doing this?! Hasn't she hurt enough people already?! Leave my niece alone!_

"Purebloods!"

On instinct, Wilford, Wilhelmina, and Weiss whipped their heads to Cinder.

Then Weiss remembered.

She wasn't a pureblood.

But her father didn't know that.

"Yes?" Wilford asked calmly, he was always good at being level headed. "We'll give you whatever you want. Just don't hurt her."

Cinder satisfyingly smirked to herself, knowing this baby meant a lot to them. As long as she had Aves, they were wrapped around her finger.

"Purebloods, come forth and surrender."

Wilford and Wilhelmina began to walk cautiously over to the enemy, their aura flaring as a precautionary measure.

Mr. Schnee was wondering why his daughter didn't advance so much as a step.

Weiss was too busy trying to gather her thoughts on what to do.

 _Should I move forward?_ she asked herself. _Cinder knows I'm not a pureblood, so if I move, she'll call me out on it. Father still doesn't know I'm just an aristocrat, so then he'll definitely find out. Then he'll know mother wasn't exactly… faithful. Good going, Weiss. You waited for the WORST possible time for him to find out,_ she grasped the hilt on her rapier with an iron grip. _We should have told him sooner!_

She may have avoided straining the present, but now the future would pay for her mistakes.

The heiress controlled her ragged breathing and took a deep, calm breath.

She decided to finally play back into fate's hands.

With a practiced poker face, she moved forward, her steps containing the usual poise they normally carried.

"Not you," Cinder pointed at Weiss. "You're just a filthy aristocrat."

Weiss clenched her jaw in frustration, her focus now on her father.

His reaction was what she expected. A look of disbelief.

"Aristocrat?" Wilford repeated, obviously baffled.

"You didn't know?" Cinder asked in amusement. "Of course you didn't. That annoying wife of yours was a little whore back in the day."

Yang cringed from the insult.

That must've hurt.

"All Schnee's are the same," Adam chimed. "The purebloods are no different."

Wilford's voice cracked with misery. "Wilhelmina? Is it true?"

Her expression was pure sorrow, she couldn't even look at her husband in the eyes.

"She can't even admit it," Cinder stated.

Suddenly, a new spark of determination formed in Wilhelmina. It was like a sudden raging whirlwind. The more she thought about the situation, the more it all became clear to her.

"Wilford," she called.

"Yeah?"

He sounded so sad to realize Weiss wasn't his real daughter and that his wife had been unfaithful, but he was willing to listen.

"I promise I'll tell you _everything_ later," Wilhelmina said with conviction. "Weiss will make sure of it," that earned a nod from her daughter. "But right now, we need to focus."

Wilhelmina realized Cinder was attempting to throw off their forces. She was about to win, but Wilhelmina knew her husband better than anyone.

They had been through years of suffering and happiness together. They knew each other's idiosyncrasies like the back of their hand.

But most of all, they still loved each other.

And she knew he would rationalize the situation above all else.

"You're right," his red eyes shifted back to focus.

The pureblood couple advanced to their enemy slowly, their hands entwined in each others.

For some reason, it pissed Cinder off that she couldn't cause a family squabble. Then again, she knew she'd done a lot to this particular family.

Even accidentally strengthening them.

Further in the back, Blake was still debating about what to do. Her team was in the same situation as her, and she knew they were trying to wrap their minds around the possibilities of saving Aves.

But the glowing white horde of beowolves were still poised and ready to strike if anyone made any sudden movements. The pack glared down the team and Qrow, patiently waiting for the purebloods to cross the room to the other side.

Suddenly, Blake's cat ear caught something in the distance. She wasn't sure what it was at first, so with her enhanced hearing, she honed in on the noise.

Her amber orbs widened in disbelief.

It was faint, but it was an unmistakable sound.

Knowing what it meant, Blake thought of a plan.

"Hey!" Blake suddenly quipped, gaining everyone's full attention. "You said 'aristocrat' like it was a bad word!"

Yang rolled her eyes, not catching on. "Now's not the time to get offended, Blake."

Blake almost scoffed and looked at her sister in a silent plea. Luckily, Weiss was paying attention and understood.

After years of living together, they understood.

They understood almost everything about each other.

"It's funny!" Weiss yelled, egging Cinder on. "You use that word like it's poison, even though you're just an aristocrat yourself!"

Cinder narrowed her furious red eyes at the girl. "Shut up!"

"Yikes…" Ruby muttered. "Hit a nerve."

"Yeah!" Blake exclaimed. "No matter how many purebloods you kill, you'll never be a pureblood!"

For her reaction, Cinder erupted in flames, causing Aves to cry in her arms. The baby had an aura, but it definitely wasn't powerful, and it was still fragile. Aura took some time to develop, so right now Aves was almost the same as any other normal human.

Qrow was _this_ close to lunging at Cinder when his baby girl let out shrieks of pain, but that wasn't needed when Cinder was suddenly knocked forward, causing her to stumble and drop the baby.

Suddenly, a little blob of black jumped from behind the woman and snatched the baby in mid-air. His jaws could be powerful, but he was always gentle and protective of Aves.

Zwei zipped around the room with Aves in his firm yet gentle jaws, eliciting happy squeals from her.

The little corgi bolted off and tried to get out of danger, running to his companions.

"Good boy!" Ruby praised and pat her knees in eager. "Get her outta here!"

The horde of white beowolves launched themselves at the dog. Zwei managed to dodge most of their swipes. A claw was about to rip him in half-

-but Qrow was there in a heartbeat and demolished every single one with his scythe. After he whirled around in one final spin, he thrust his scythe to the ground.

"Not this time."

Cinder may have killed Winter, but Qrow would _never_ let his daughter die on his watch.

Not if he could help it.

Nothing was going according to Cinder's plan.

First, she wasn't expecting the whole damn family and team to be there, armed and ready.

Second, the most annoying one of all, Wilhelmina, called her a cunt.

Third, they overcame her trump card, Cardin's pureblood power without much issues.

Finally, they just snatched her back up plan!

Right out of her arms!

By a mere dog no less!

Her backup option was getting away and scampered frantically out the door.

Her overwhelming fury had finally breached. There was no way in _hell_ she'd leave this fight without some success.

Cinder's aura and zehn had depleted immensely. She knew she had to go for one all out attack if she was going to prevail.

She had to at least get one of those purebloods.

The more weakened one…

 _She_ would be the easiest target.

With a controlled rage, Cinder let the darkness stir within her. It was like a sandstorm within her very core as she let her ferocity run wild. Soon enough, her inner turmoil showed on the outside.

At first, specs of darkness lingered around her kind of like the grimm. A certain animosity made itself known and everyone backed up a bit, knowing what was happening having seen it before.

Ruby barely breathed. "S-she's going berserker..."

With a shriek, Cinder erupted in a black cloud and spilled out the remains of her aura and zehn in a final attempt to attain pure power.

There was a violent wind around her, causing them to back up further. It was like back when Weiss went berserker…

But way worse.

Cinder was in complete control of her actions.

It was like she had turned into a grimm as she slowly floated in mid-air, her furious gaze on one person in particular.

Wilhelmina.

* * *

 **ONCE AGAIN… shit.**

 **I wrote the 'human grimm' line before it was canon xD woopsies whata kawinky dink.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	82. I'll Hold My Own With the Memory of You

No one had time to even _think_ about what was happening.

One moment, Cinder was calm and collected and the next she was nothing but a blob of darkness.

She had gone berserker.

Cinder's allies knew what to do at a time like this. Sometimes Cinder _would_ lose control, so for their own safety, they watched from a distance.

Unlike Weiss, Cinder was in complete control of her actions.

Cinder was too quick for anyone to follow her trail of ominous black.

The woman flew in mid-air and directed her fury at one person in particular.

Wilhelmina.

With a yelp, Wilhelmina was sent flying backward and slammed into the solid white wall. Sickening crunch noises rang out from the impact and a large dent from her body was formed. A fragile yelp ensued.

Her eyes flickered around the room as she slipped from the surface. Her head lolled forwards and blood trickled down her face.

Before she could hit the ground, Cinder grabbed her neck while the two were in mid-air and slammed her head back against the wall. Cinder only had to use one hand, which wrapped around her neck and crushed it with an iron grip.

Wilhelmina gasped for breath, her pale hands on top of her enemy's own in an attempt to get an ounce of air.

"Mom!"

She heard one of her daughters yell, but her hearing was fading in and out. There was looming dead silence in the black cloud, so that unsettled her more than the actual situation.

In a feeble act of defiance, Wilhelmina glared into Cinder's furious eyes and only saw one thing.

Pure rage.

"Where's your earlier bravado, you _cunt_?" Cinder seethed as she tightened the grip on her neck.

Damn, it felt good to throw that insult back at her.

Wilford, Qrow, and team RWBY tried to break through the puff of ominous black surrounding the two to get to Wilhelmina, but everything they tried was for naught and only sent them hurtling backward.

Every time they got near them, shards of dust pierced their skin. Some were so large they had to dodge out of the way, fearing it would do some serious damage to their auras and zehn.

"Nothing's working!" Yang yelped. "W-what do we do!?"

"Wilhelmina!" Wilford yelled. "Hang in there!"

They watched her kick her legs in an attempt to get away from the enraged woman, but that didn't do much. Her kicks were gradually weakening, and so was the grip she had on Cinder's hand.

Blake thought of an epiphany. Instantly, she tried to disappear into thin air and reappear next to her mother but was confused when she stayed in the same spot.

That's when she felt exertion creeping into her body. She started to heave for breath, knowing she had used her zehn to its limit.

 _Shit,_ Blake cursed herself. _Of all the times to not be able to teleport! It'll be my fault if… if…_

"Mom!" Weiss shouted desperately and conjured up several ice shards, throwing it at the black smoke that acted as their shield.

Following her lead, Yang began to shoot at Cinder, only to have her bullets deflected. Ruby did the same thing while Blake shot her katana several times in an attempt to pierce through.

Wilford and Qrow clashed their weapons against the ominous cloud, only to be sent flying backward with grunts. Wilford even summoned a few grimm, but they had no effect.

It was obvious everyone was physically fatigued.

Dammit!

Every second spent was wasted!

Wilhelmina was in danger!

They didn't have time for this!

Slashes appeared all over Wilhelmina's body that seeped blood. Her white clothing was marred and tattered. Cinder took pleasure in listening to her fleeting breath before she went limp, her arms going slack.

" **Mom!"**

Weiss didn't even know what she was doing. Her hands reacted on instinct when she reached for her rapier.

It was like her body knew exactly what to do.

She drew Myrtenaster to the sky, where the roof had caved in earlier. There was a glyph that spun extremely fast just above her that had the typical pattern of her normal glyphs.

Except this one had four large swords and spun like a time dial.

"What're you doing?" Yang asked softly, her curiosity peaked.

She knew her girlfriend's semblance was glyphs, but she never saw her perform one in this manner.

"She's…" Qrow gasped, knowing what was happening.

The heiress' azure orbs widened at the surge of energy that rushed through her. Suddenly, her vision was emblazoned in pure white and she caught a glance to the left, where Ruby stood.

The leader faded out of her vision for a moment, only to have it reappear as the glowing white form of...

Winter.

She was smiling.

It was a smile of pure adoration and love.

One that showed she was extremely proud.

That's when Winter's words rang in the back of her mind.

" _You will summon sooner or later and I will be there when it happens."_

As soon as the illusion came, Winter dissipated, and Weiss snapped out of her stupor, noticing the shocked expression on her leader's face.

Something shook the ground violently.

Her ears were ringing and as soon as the surge of energy came, it depleted with exhaustion taking its toll.

 _You really were here..._

Her eyes fluttered shut and she dropped to the ground so suddenly it was like a sack of potatoes. Yang dove forward but couldn't catch her in time. Weiss fell on her side hardly.

"H-hey!"

There was no response from the girl, she'd passed out cold.

Yang swallowed the bile in her throat and held her protectively close, not allowing anything to get near her defenseless girlfriend.

Then a new presence stole her attention.

Everyone's eyes couldn't pry away from it.

It was a giant, glimmering white armor that stood several feet tall. It stood almost to the sky, passing through the ceiling that caved in. It held its sword on the hilt and kneeled to its allies, showing it meant them no harm.

Blake stumbled back a bit in utter shock. "Th-the armor she beat when she was a kid?!"

The glowing white mass hovered over them, its head seemingly in the direction of Weiss. It lowered closer to the ground and dipped its head to the unconscious girl as a sign of respect.

"It's back," Wilford mused, his jaw dropped. "She summoned…"

Yang tucked Weiss closer to her chest, gazing down at her. "You did it."

"How?" Qrow asked. "That shouldn't be possible!"

"It doesn't matter right now," Wilford said. "We need to save Wilhelmina!"

As if it understood the man, the pure white armor yanked its sword out. Cinder finally took her attention off her prey and glanced at the armor and then to the unconscious heap in Yang's arms.

It all pieced together.

" **Impossible!"**

Before Cinder could react, the pure white sword sliced through the black cloud in one clean sweep. There was a piercing sound that rang out, and then the darkness settled.

Both Cinder and Wilhelmina fell to the ground. Cinder met the cold, hard floor at full force while Wilford dove forward and caught his wife with ease.

It was like catching a feather, and Wilford quickly got to work. After checking for a pulse, he sighed in relief.

"She's alive."

But her pulse was slowly dwindling, so he needed to get her out of there, and fast.

Everyone was comforted by the information and he flared his aura to heal her more minor injuries. He knew it would take a long time to heal the serious wounds, but right now he and all his allies were lacking in aura.

Knowing it had done its job, the white armor allowed itself to dissipate and painted the atmosphere a pure white.

For destruction all around them, it was pretty peaceful.

Besides new worried chatter that filled the air.

The sight of Wilhelmina was pretty daunting. The pureblood looked just like Weiss did when she went berserker. Her white clothing was marred and tattered, cuts scattered all over her body and blood seeped from her head, staining her white hair and the ice below.

In a last-ditch effort, Cinder scrambled to her feet and pulled out her bow and arrow.

This time, Blake actually had time to think due to Cinder's slower movements.

The arrow reached just passed Cinder's ear as she directed the shot at the unconscious Wilhelmina.

It was dead silent as the sound of her letting go pierced the air.

Quickly, Wilford shielded his wife and clutched her in his arms, making sure his back would take the blow.

But that wasn't necessary.

Blake had jumped in front of them in time to not only block the shot.

With sheer precision and catlike reflexes, she reached out and barely _grazed_ the deadly arrow.

But it was enough.

In that split second contact, Blake sent the remains of her zehn flowing to her fingertips, allowing her to successfully teleport the arrow in the opposite direction.

Another crunch rang out.

A gasp.

Cinder collapsed to her knees, her eyes wide and disbelieving. The pure hatred they contained disappeared as they turned empty and lifeless.

Slowly, the woman fell on her back with a loud and final thud, a fleeted breath escaped her lips.

The arrow stuck straight up from her heart.

 _I did it…_ Blake thought before her knees buckled and she collapsed, almost face planting.

"Blake!" Ruby barely made it on time to catch her, she was worn out as well. "A-are you okay?! Blake?!"

The blood-faunus was out cold and didn't even flinch when Ruby shook her a few times. Despite that, Ruby was glad to see a faint grin graze her girlfriend's lips.

"You did good…" Ruby murmured to her, entangling her fingers with her black tresses. "You deserve to rest."

"She's exhausted," Qrow observed and grit his teeth, spinning his scythe around. "As for you three!"

Mercury stumbled back, his limp making it hard for him to walk. Emerald supported him while Adam stood there, his chest heaving in a silent challenge.

Wilford gently handed his wife to Qrow's capable arms and whirled around with a death glare. This was going to end once and for all.

With expert speed, Wilford zoomed up to the three and held out his bulky rapier, a pissed off glower present.

"Get the hell out of my house!"

The command echoed for miles.

Wilford was done with today.

Both of his daughters were unconscious, his wife was in critical condition…

He was _done_.

And if he were honest, he'd rather not kill more people needlessly.

The three remaining enemies scattered without incident, knowing their leader had been defeated. They leaped out of the window and out of sight.

The last thing they wanted was to fight a royally pissed off pureblood with their injured forces.

* * *

A few hours later, the injured were resting and recovering in their respective beds.

The least wounded were Wilford and Qrow, so they took the roles of healing the injured. They needed time to rest too, but the one in most critical condition was Wilhelmina. As a result, their attention was focused on her first.

Together, Wilford and Qrow managed to heal most of her wounds. They wanted to heal all of her wounds, but they needed to save some aura for the other injured.

While Wilford tilted a blood bag to her lips, Qrow headed to Weiss and Blake's room, where all of team RWBY was located.

It was a plus that Aves' crib was moved to Weiss and Blake's room. That way, Zwei could stay with all of team RWBY and Aves.

Aves was still being guarded by Zwei. The little corgi was still frightened if Aves would be taken hostage again, so he didn't want to leave her alone.

After entering the room, Qrow was greeted by a heartwarming sight.

All of his kiddos were cuddling with each other.

He didn't want to, but he had to separate them for now.

It took a little effort, but Qrow finally pried Weiss out of Yang's grip. He wasn't surprised that both of them didn't even stir.

He had never seen them fight so hard, so they deserved every second of rest.

He gave Weiss the third dose of human blood and let it trickle down her throat before setting her down on the mattress. Qrow smiled when Yang subconsciously pulled her close, even sporting a faint grin.

He had to give Blake more blood. Even though most of her wounds healed, she overused her zehn the most and required more blood than Weiss. This was her fourth dose as Qrow tilted the red liquid to her lips. When she reflexively swallowed, he wrapped Ruby's red cape around her like it had been before and scooted her closer to his niece.

Blake subconsciously nuzzled into the crook of Ruby's neck, seeking more warmth.

"Mmm, Blake," Ruby muttered in a voice plagued with exhaustion. "You smell so nice…"

Qrow stifled a chuckle from the comment and noticed Blake's cat ear flicked slightly in recognition.

After that, Qrow grinned at the sight one last time before turning on his heel.

He pat Zwei on the head, giving him a firm rub on his broad ears.

He knelt down to get at eye-level with the dog.

"Thank you."

He sincerely meant it. If the little corgi wasn't there to save his daughter, she might not be alive right now.

Zwei grinned his puppy dog grin and licked Qrow's face to return his appreciation.

Qrow chuckled a bit and pat his head one last time before giving his attention to his daughter.

Aves was sitting in the snowflake patterned crib and sucking on her binky when she noticed her father staring at her. Immediately, she stood on wobbly legs and reached up, begging him to hold her.

Qrow was happy to comply and reached in, carefully coaxing her into his arms.

"Come on, we don't want to wake them up."

Zwei dawdled behind them, following Qrow and Aves out the door.

* * *

 **The fight is finally over! Jeez… sorry if it dragged out, but as you read, there was a lot of stuff to cover.**

 **The chapter title is a reference to Weiss seeing Winter's image when she summoned. They are song lyrics from Let Me Hear by Natewantstobattle.**

 **Lyrics: "Maybe one day I'll meet you where you've ended up. But for now, 'I'll hold my own with the memory of you' standing beside me!" The title would've been that entire line, but it was too long. Weiss summoned with Winter by her side ta-dah so there's the title!**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	83. Our Reign Will Prevail

**My newest fic called White Light was just finished yesterday! It will be released when LMH is done posting in 7 weeks. It's also 90 chapters. More info is on my profile. Keep an eye out for it! :D**

* * *

The next morning, team RWBY woke up to the sun's rays. Surprisingly, they woke up at the same time.

Their muscles were sore from the fight the day before, but their bodies had rested enough to operate.

"Good morning teeeeaaaam RWBY!" their leader cheered and hopped out of bed.

Blake yawned and Ruby could have sworn she looked like a kitten… only to realize she was exactly that.

"Blake!" Ruby tackled her on the bed. "How're you feeling?"

"I'm okay, Ruby," Blake replied, still a little tired. "Wait-"

She felt a hand on her shoulder. "I'm okay, too."

The blood-faunus sighed in relief when it was Weiss who spoke. "I'm glad."

"Kitten," Yang called. "I thought you could only teleport things that were alive."

"She can teleport anything she can touch," the heiress informed evenly. "Why are you bringing it up?"

"It was so awesome!" Ruby beamed. "She made it in time to teleport the arrow out of the way! And then it kinda…"

"It struck her…" Yang finished for her sister. "It killed Cinder."

"She's gone for good, huh?" Weiss mused. "I suppose that's good news. We no longer have to worry about our lives."

Yang pointed from Weiss to Blake. "Do you guys remember anything after passing out?"

"Uh…" Blake tried to recall the memories. "Not really. I just remember Cinder dropping dead and not much else…"

Instead of guilt, Blake took a little pride in being responsible for her death. Blake had avenged her older sister and several other lives she didn't know about, so that lessened a bit of her burden.

"What about you, Weiss?" Ruby asked. "Do you remember anything?"

"No," Weiss said. "I remember there was a flash of white and then…"

Her eyes widened when at the memory. The image of Winter's illusion smiling was engraved in her mind. That's when she also remembered the sheer determination she felt surging through her body…

And then nothing.

She gazed at her three teammates, urgency in her tone. "What happened?"

The three just looked at each other, debating how they should tell her the news.

"Weiss…" Blake murmured, amber orbs almost watering from how proud she was. "You summoned."

"Pardon?" the heiress looked at her like she was crazy.

"You summoned!" Yang exclaimed. "It was amazing! I didn't know you could do that!"

Weiss shook her head. "Summoning is a pureblood power. I'm an aristocrat, therefore, that's impossible."

"Then what was that giant white armor, huh?" Yang questioned, her voice even. "Where'd that come from?"

Weiss could only stare at them and weigh their words. She fought that armor such a long time ago, back she was first trained with Myrtenaster.

Did she summon that huge thing?

Blake continued. "You made a pretty fancy glyph above you. I've never seen that particular pattern before. I guess it drained you of all your energy because you collapsed the moment the armor appeared."

That's when Weiss gasped when she remembered why she wanted to summon. "Mom! Is she okay?!"

The last time she saw her was when Cinder almost strangled her to death. Not seeing her since then made her stomach twist in a knot.

"Yeah, she's okay right now," Yang soothed her. "That knight saved her with its sword."

"It was totally incredible!" Ruby gushed. "I've never seen anything like it!"

The heiress still couldn't believe it.

She wasn't even a pureblood, and yet she _summoned_?!

It was kind of funny in a way. She had trained her whole life to summon and when she finally did, she didn't even see her creation.

She didn't even remember catching a small glimpse of it, just…

Winter.

Did Winter actually _help_ her summon?

Was that even possible?

She had no idea what to think.

Weiss looked away and at the carpet, a faint smile present. No matter how much she tried, she couldn't get the image of Winter out of her head.

"You okay, princess?" Yang asked softly and grasped her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Yes," the heiress squeezed back. "Just a little hungry is all."

She thought not telling them would be for the best. It was probably just a one-time thing.

It would be a sister's secret.

"It's like I said before," Yang's tone lowered seductively. "There's plenty of me to go around."

"D-don't even joke about that," the heiress blushed. "I'm sure you're hungry, too. It can't just be me."

"I'm starving," Ruby whined and rubbed her stomach.

"Let's get some food, then," Blake offered and took her girlfriend's hand.

The team headed downstairs to get some food. The vampire sisters were fed blood in their sleep, but they still felt a little run down. It would take time for the team to completely recover from how much aura and zehn they lost from the fight, but right now they needed to restore their energy.

They were about to walk in the arch that led to the kitchen, but they heard someone.

"Come on, Ave," the deep voice encouraged. "You can do it!"

The team stopped in their tracks and glanced at each other, wondering what Qrow was doing. Slowly, they peaked their heads around the arch and saw a heartwarming sight.

Aves was walking on her tiny wobbly feet, her hands outstretched to reach her father. Qrow was only a few feet away, his hands reaching out to her as well.

It was like watching a baby giraffe walk for the first time.

They had never seen Qrow act like this before. Like a… like a father.

It was strange to watch, but the role surprisingly fit him.

"I'm going to die of cuteness overload," Yang whispered.

"How?" Blake asked. "How is Aves so cute?"

Since they lived in northern Vale, it was usually cold. Aves was usually always dressed warmly. Besides that, she was normally kept warm due to poor circulation, a condition that runs in her family. It was easier for younger kids to get cold, so Qrow was adamant about dressing her in layers.

She adorned a sparkling white bow in her hair that was similar to Blake's old matching black one. She chose the accessory herself after Qrow gave her the option. Her short white hair reminded Blake of how Weiss looked when she was little. Aves' coat was a gentle ombre lilac, just like her cousin, Yang's, eyes. The sash around her waist was a glittery white, something that matched her bow.

"Woah!" Qrow lurched forward and caught his daughter before she could fall. "Jeez, you're a troublemaker just like Ruby, huh?"

Aves only laughed, a wide grin present.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ruby pouted in a whisper.

Qrow picked her up and placed her in the high chair, prompting the team to make their entrance.

"Qrow," Weiss called, causing him to stop in his tracks.

He turned around slowly, looking slightly terrified. The baby food in his hands almost fell to the ground, he certainly wasn't expecting them to be up so soon.

"Can we just say that that was the most adorable thing we've ever seen?" Yang casually mentioned.

"You saw that?" Qrow asked the four.

The team had goofy grins on their faces.

Qrow sighed. "Don't tell Wil and Wil."

"Wil and Wil?" Blake repeated. "What?"

"Wilford and Wilhelmina, get it?" Qrow drawled.

"Laaaaaame," Yang chimed as she went over to the refrigerator.

This time, Yang wouldn't let the vampire sisters make anything for them. She knew how tired they were and to ease their burden, made food for both her and Ruby. Blake found a bag of blood in the refrigerator and took her seat while Ruby waited for Yang to make a meal.

Weiss stared at Aves, only to receive a smile in return. She got closer to her high chair and fiddled with the bow on her tiny head, trying to angle it properly, having been tilted after the fall.

Meanwhile, Qrow took a seat next to his daughter.

"You know… If Aves can almost walk, she should be able to talk soon," the heiress said absentmindedly.

"Joy," Qrow said sarcastically. "Then the arguments will begin."

Aves let out a high-pitched squeal and grabbed the heiress' arm.

Weiss ignored the contact and easily got out of her tiny grip. "You'll be fine," she continued to fix her niece's hair, adjusting a few tufts of white locks that stuck out.

After Blake drank another dose of blood, she sighed in relief and set the bag on the table. "I still don't understand how someone as sweet as Aves came partly from you."

"I think she got the majority of Winter's genes in personality," Qrow observed. "It's better that way," he laughed dryly.

"Aves!" Ruby chirped and bolted over with a strawberry in hand. "Open wide~"

Weiss was quite literally pushed away from her niece, eliciting a glower. "Excuse you-"

Ruby completely ignored her teammate. "Here comes the plane! Raaaaaaaar-pshhhh."

Aves quickly dodged the sudden strawberry that landed on her cheek. Now she had the same scowl as Weiss.

"Hey look!" Yang chirped and pointed from Weiss to Aves. "They're twins!"

Weiss promptly flicked her girlfriend on the forehead. "Would you shut it, brute?"

"Aw, come on, Aves!" Ruby whined. "Don't you like strawberries?"

Aves grunted and crossed her arms, turning away from her cousin.

"She's a very picky eater," Qrow informed solemnly. "One day she likes something, the next day she hates it. You can't win."

"Aw come on, Aves," Ruby almost begged. "You're supposed to love strawberries like me!"

Aves just sat there, giving her cousin a deadpanned expression. That is, until Ruby tried to shove another strawberry down her throat.

Aves let out a high-pitched whine and started to kick her legs in frustration.

"Come…" Ruby tried to put it in her mouth.

"Um, Ruby?" Yang called. "I think you're really irritating her."

"... On!" the leader ignored her sister's warning and kept trying to get Aves to open her mouth.

Aves whined again, her face turning red from anger. Ruby missed how frustrated her cousin was and was completely caught off guard when a tiny blue glyph formed directly in front of Aves.

A few gasps sounded from the sudden spinning glyph.

Without warning, Ruby was sent flying backward and landed in the cupboard with a thud.

"Ughhh..." she groaned. "Why me?"

A bag of potato chips fell on top of the leader and she was seeing stars.

"You kinda deserved that one, Rubes," Yang said.

Ruby groaned and just sat there contemplating life.

"Was that Aves' doing?" Blake asked Weiss.

Weiss held her hands up in mock surrender. "It wasn't me!"

Qrow grinned widely at his daughter, who had begun to calm down. "You can use your semblance before talking. You really are your mother's daughter."

"Looks like she got the Schnee glyphs," Yang observed. "That one was so cute~"

Blake helped Ruby stand. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Ruby assured. "Just didn't expect that."

"Don't piss off my daughter," Qrow said teasingly and held out a fist. "Yo, Ave, gimme some."

Aves wasn't sure what to do at first, but with a smile of reassurance from him, she made her own tiny fist and fist bumped him.

* * *

Wilford sat on a chair, hunched over his spacious bed. He waited overnight for his wife to come to, but she never did.

A reassuring hand was placed in hers, but it still wasn't enough comfort. He needed to know if Wilhelmina was alright. The fact that she couldn't even tell him yet worried him.

Wilford wasn't the only one with his wife that stayed overnight, as Zwei had elected to be with them. Even though he didn't know the purebloods very well, the little corgi knew they were precious to the people close to him.

The little corgi laid on the edge of the bed, still in a deep slumber.

Wilford spent the night healing his wife as much as he could and even dabbed some water through her silken tresses to rid the blood that dyed it.

The blood that stained her white hair was unsettling and he didn't want to be reminded that he almost lost her.

Her head seeped blood for quite a while and he thought she'd need stitches, but it eventually stopped.

Wilford learned several things yesterday.

For one thing, Weiss wasn't his biological daughter. She wasn't a pureblood and she was an aristocrat.

In his heart, he knew he'd always treat Weiss like one of his own. That's exactly what he did for Blake.

Knowing this information didn't change much, but he felt extremely guilty.

Over the years, he made sure Weiss knew the full responsibilities of being a vampire pureblood. He engraved them in her mind, even if he didn't want to.

He was her constant reminder that she had a duty to her race.

But it was all for nothing this whole time?

He supposed it wasn't his fault, but he couldn't help but blame himself a little.

The next thing he worried about was his wife.

Did he treat her wrong back when she cheated on him?

Did he make her feel unloved?

He felt like an awful husband...

One hand remained entwined with hers, his other hand soothed his fingers through her bangs. As they did, his eyes lingered on the ring.

Their marriage ring.

It was made of the finest gold. It was nothing tacky, in fact, Wilhelmina shared the same one. They had the same gold rings with one simple diamond in the middle. That's when he remembered he never took it off since the day they got married.

Even though things were questionable at the moment, he still loved her dearly and didn't dare take it off.

His hand went back to grasp her own limp one and he squeezed it to give her reassurance that she'd be okay.

Wilhelmina had never looked so fragile.

She was worryingly ashen, even though her natural complexion was pale. The blue nightgown she adorned allowed her to look extremely small and slender. Wilford knew she was a tiny person, but he couldn't help but worry.

It would help if he could ask her if there were any injuries he missed.

"Nngh…"

Wilford snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the whimper. He watched her face furrow a few times before he was greeted with bleary azure orbs.

"Wil...ford…" she rasped. "What-"

"Everything's okay now," Wilford assured, soothing his fingers through her bangs. "She's dead."

Wilhelmina sighed, and tears flowed from her eyes as they cascaded down her cheeks. She cried mainly out of relief. The last thing she remembered was her family in grave danger, so to hear the threat was gone...

"What's wrong?!" he asked with urgency. He didn't know why she'd cry off the bat.

"Thank goodness…" she murmured. "We don't have to worry about her anymore…"

That's when she remembered her daughters and their friends.

Wilhelmina sat up with a gasp. "The others!"

As soon as she shot up, she felt extremely lightheaded as her vision shifted in and out of focus.

It was hard to keep her head up and the next thing she knew, she was staring at the ceiling.

It took a lot of energy to feebly mumble. "Huh?"

"Take it easy," Wilford advised, his arms firmly wrapped around her. "You have a concussion. She slammed you into that wall really hard. I used aura to try and heal it, but even then, it'll take a few days to fully heal."

Wilford gently set her head on the comfy pillow and pulled the blankets over her to provide warmth.

"Wilford… I'm so sorry for not telling you..."

Her voice was laden with enervation. Even so, it was genuine and sincere.

"It's okay," he tried to soothe her. "You can explain everything later. Right now, you need to rest, okay?"

Wilhelmina sighed and allowed her eyes to vanish behind heavy eyelids. "Okay..."

Wilford smiled and kissed her forehead as she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

After the team had food, Weiss declared that she was still tired and wanted to get some more sleep. As expected, Yang wanted to tag along.

Weiss knew her girlfriend was a huge cuddle bug, and if she was in the mood, she could be too.

Currently, she wasn't keen on sleeping alone. All of her friends and family almost died yesterday, so she still needed some reassurance that everything was okay.

The two were in their pajamas when they crawled into bed and wrapped their arms around each other for comfort. They kept silent, the only sound they could hear was their even breathing and their shared heartbeats. It was reassuring to Weiss. It confirmed they were alive.

"Can we talk about how cute Aves is?" Yang broke the comfortable silence.

"She is adorable," the heiress agreed after yawning.

"Haha my bad," Yang chuckled. "I forgot you wanted some sleep."

"No, we can talk," Weiss said. "I wanted to tell you something."

Yang perked an amused eyebrow. "Oh? And what would that be?"

Weiss scooted closer to the blonde, pulling her in for a tighter embrace. Her cheeks flushed at how cheesy she was about to sound and from how close the two were.

"I'm so glad you're okay…"

Yang wrapped her arms around her and lightly kissed the scar over Weiss' left eye. "I should be the one saying that. After you summoned, you were out cold… like… gone."

Azure orbs met lilac in a silent plea. "I'm okay now and so are you. That's what matters."

"Yeah, but it was still scary," Yang admitted. "Especially since mama Schnee was almost killed."

"Dad's taking care of her," Weiss breathed. "She couldn't be in better hands."

"You're right," the blonde agreed.

The two drifted off into another comfortable silence. They simply enjoyed being in each other's company and Weiss' eyes had vanished behind heavy eyelids.

Yang couldn't help but gaze down lovingly at her girlfriend. Her white hair draped all around her in a blanket of snow. She seemed to finally relax for once and was carefree, accepting Yang's presence wholeheartedly.

The blonde couldn't help herself, and gently brought her lips closer to her girlfriend's before lightly pressing them together as she dozed. But Yang didn't expect the other pair of lips to kiss back with vigor.

It was true that Weiss was fatigued, but the moment Yang made lip contact, she found herself wanting- no _needing_ more of the irresistible blonde.

Getting caught up in the moment, Yang rolled over and bore down on the girl in the bed, matching her girlfriend's ferocity as her hands straddled either side of the heiress' shoulders. This elicited a moan Weiss tried to vainly stifle, but it was muffled with their mouths ensnared.

The heiress' hands slowly drew up Yang's body, one wrapped around her shoulder, and the other entangling itself with her golden hair. She gently ran her fingers through the hair of the girl on top of her as her tongue slid along the other's lips, seeking entrance. Yang opened her mouth wider, allowing her girlfriend's tongue to shoot forward, the two running around each other in an intricate dance.

Yang was as red as a tomato when she felt Weiss' gentle and feather-like touches, yet as her silken hands continued to roam along her body, she never ventured too far.

Their kissing sounded like ocean waves crashing on a beach. Neither of them have ever felt this intoxicated before. It was like they came together in a heat of passion.

After several seconds in this manner, the two broke apart, panting for breath.

Weiss let her arms fall back onto the bed, her wrists above her head and a sly smile on her lips as if she was inviting Yang to pin them down.

 _How is she this gorgeous?_ Yang asked herself.

Her white hair sprawled on the bed and pillows in a blanket of snow, and she was still underneath Yang, somehow managing to seem even more fragile.

As Weiss gazed up at Yang, she noticed her normal, gentle violet eyes contained a feral appearance.

She liked that.

"Someone's frisky," Yang said in a seductive tone.

Heat immediately rushed to Weiss' face. "Y-you don't want to?"

Yang gave her a deadpanned look.

Did she want to?!

"Weiss, you make me the happiest person in the world," the blonde said knowingly. "And you're the most beautiful girl imaginable. Why would I _not_ want to?"

"I-I don't know," Weiss murmured. "It's just-"

Yang leaned down and ensnared her in another passionate kiss, wiping away her stray bangs. After slowly pulling apart, two pairs of eyes lovingly met.

"I'm in love with you, Weiss."

Azure orbs widened at the sudden confession. Icy blue searched lilac, only to find no doubt present.

"I'm in love with you too, Yang."

And she meant it.

Yang smiled and leaned down to kiss her once more, but this time it was a light peck.

"I figured."

Weiss feebly scoffed. "Someone's full of herself."

"Who can resist this?" Yang perked a brow and gestured to her whole body.

Slowly, Weiss pushed Yang back and sat up, continuing closer until their faces were mere inches away. She carefully brushed her lips past her lover's before closing the distance and began kissing Yang's neck, eliciting a thin gasp from her partner.

"Not me…"

Yang didn't know her girlfriend could be so bold, but she wasn't about to complain. At first, they were light kisses that trailed from her collarbone to lower neck. Then, Weiss began sucking a little harder at the base of her neck, where her scarf was normally.

The sucking didn't hurt, in fact, Yang found pleasure in it. Since she was her girlfriend, she was extremely turned on right now.

The heiress made sure to leave a mark, but didn't suck hard enough to break skin or draw blood.

Once Weiss was finished, she gazed into her girlfriend's glazed over primal eyes.

" _Now_ there's a mark."

"You're so naughty," Yang sent her a flirtatious wink and then she noticed spikes in her girlfriend's teeth from her wide smile. "Your fangs are showing, by the way."

Weiss gasped and was about to retract them, but Yang stopped her in time.

"Don't. They… they make you look cuter… if that's possible."

Not only had this girl accepted her as a person, but she accepted her as what she was.

A vampire.

She had never met someone so understanding in her life.

Yang had her suspicions in the beginning, but right now all they wanted to do was bask in each other's presences.

Weiss flung her arms around Yang's neck in a passionate and deep kiss. It was Yang's turn for her arms to roam around her lover's body until they landed in the small of Weiss' back. Apparently, that tickled her and she let out a tiny yelp, but it was muffled by their kiss.

Yang pulled apart, wanting to tease her. "Ticklish?"

"S-so what?" the heiress tried to brush it off, withdrawing her arms from her girlfriend's neck before crossing them in front of her in an oh so adorable scowl.

From the action, Yang stared at her disheveled silk blue blouse and gulped. Some of the buttons were already undone in the fray, but it made her girlfriend look even more frail and attractive.

Weiss noticed her staring. "You can… if you want…" her arms fell to her sides, her cold hands on Yang's knees.

Feral violet eyes quickly shifted to a glint of concern. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Weiss answered.

If she was going to do this, she would want to do it with Yang.

No one had loved her this much.

She wouldn't want to be with anyone else.

The love of her life contemplated the question and reached her hands out to one of the buttons.

"Alright, but if you want me to stop, say the word, okay?"

Weiss timidly nodded, heat rushing to her face. The two were blushing madly as one button came undone. With fumbling fingers, Yang moved down to the next button, and then the next until a lacy white bra was revealed.

Slowly, Yang helped her remove the shirt and tossed it to the side. "You look so beautiful."

Weiss timidly looked away, a vigorous blush still present. "Don't stare…"

"Sorry, I can't help it," the blonde easily replied and noticed her girlfriend was more nervous than she would have liked. "You sure this is okay?"

"Yes, Yang," Weiss assured. "I want nothing more than… you."

"H-here," Yang offered and pulled off the shirt over her head, causing Weiss to shriek calmly.

"W-what're you doing?"

"O-oh I'm sorry. You looked nervous alone and I thought you'd be more comfortable if we're both… you know."

Weiss took in the sight. Yang adorned a lacy yellow bra that accented her breasts perfectly. Her tone stomach practically gleamed a red hue, in fact, her whole body was that pallor. That's when the heiress realized she must have been just as nervous as she was.

"I can put it back on if you want-"

"You're good," the heiress said a bit more quickly than she intended. She was still staring at her perfect body, not able to pry her gaze away. "Sorry, it was just unexpected."

"You sure it's okay?"

Weiss smiled and leaned in, setting a cold hand on her girlfriend's toned abs. Yang squealed from the sudden coldness, but it was more of a muffled sound when their lips ensnared.

They melted into each other as their tongues met, their hands roaming freely along their smooth skin.

A few moans sounded and this time, Yang ended up on the bottom with Weiss atop.

Weiss deepened the kiss, savoring the sensations until she felt the pair of calloused hands trail to the clasp of her bra, which caused her to jerk back from her lover.

"May I?" Yang asked for permission, hoping she didn't cross a line.

"It's a little late to ask, don't you think?" Weiss teased and leaned down to continue the passion.

Yang grinned as their lips met once more. She was about to unclasp the hook on her girlfriend's bra, but then the door creaked open.

Not soon after, there was a tiny shriek from a foreign voice. "Oh my god! W-what're you doing?!"

Yang was impressed at how fast Weiss ducked under the covers with a high-pitched screech.

"Get out, get out, get out!" Weiss yelped, clutching the blankets for dear life.

Yang would have found it amusing, but she was forcefully yanked out of the covers and shoved against the wall. Her eyes met the intense burning of gold.

Blake didn't like the fact that they used _her_ bed to do _that._ Yang was also doing that to… to her sister! That's something she was supposed to be angry about, right?

Blake's pools narrowed. "I'll pretend like I didn't see that happen. Now get dressed. Ruby wanted the bed to sleep…" she gazed at Weiss, who was peeking her eyes over the covers she still hid behind. "But I guess she'll have to use a different one now."

Yang made a feisty cat sound, a sly grin present. "Kitty's got claws."

* * *

 **Lyrics: By Amalee's version of Let Me Hear: "There's a point when there's no return… 'our reign will prevail.'" That referenced them winning the battle!**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	84. Bravado

The next day, Wilhelmina was much more refreshed, although she still felt the effects of her concussion.

She had been taking it easy in her bed, with Wilford being her caretaker, claiming she wasn't going anywhere until she eats something.

Zwei was like her second caretaker and was still at the foot of her bed. Despite not knowing them for long, he worried for all his companions, so whenever Wilford had to leave, Zwei would keep her company and nuzzle against her feet to warm them.

Wilhelmina rested overnight and finally had the energy to tell her husband about everything. It was something he deserved to know.

How Weiss wasn't his biological daughter.

Why she cheated on him.

How that man had died long ago.

And why she wouldn't take it back if she had the option.

Because then, they wouldn't have Weiss.

As she told the story, Wilford constantly nodded and added a few comments here and there, his necessary opinions, and his wife listened, trying to explain everything he needed and deserved to know.

She was done keeping it a secret, so it was a relief to finally tell him.

Wilford was understandably upset by the end of it all, but he knew in his heart that she loved him dearly.

And he loved her with all his heart as well.

"Once again," Wilhelmina said. "I'm so sorry, Wilford."

"It happened a long time ago, right?" he asked, earning a nod from his wife. "Then we have to move on. I trust you enough now to not do that again."

A faint grin spread on her lips, her blue eyes almost watering.

"Hey now, don't cry," Wilford almost chided. "I didn't say that to make you cry."

"What did I do to deserve you?" Wilhelmina asked.

He was seriously the kindest and most understanding person she'd ever met.

Wilford simply smiled down at his wife. She had been resting on the pillow and lying down, but he _had_ to hold her, so he coaxed her in his arms, careful not to graze her delicate head too much. Even though she tried not to show it, he knew the concussion still bothered her.

"It's okay," he assured. "Everything will be okay."

She hugged him back, as weak as her grip was.

He made sure she could sit up and kept his hands firmly on her shoulders.

"I want to see them."

Wilford was about to tell her why she shouldn't see them since she was still in frail condition, but her azure pools shimmered with determination.

There was no way he could say "no" to that.

"Alright, I'll bring them-"

"Nope," Wilhelmina cut him off. "I'm walking out there. Do you know how boring it's been laying here all day?"

Wilford sighed. Once she made her mind up there was no changing it. That's just how she is.

"Fine, but if you start feeling worse, I'm dragging you back here if I have to."

Knowing he meant it, Wilhelmina nodded.

"Fair enough."

After pulling down the covers, Wilhelmina set her feet on the ground and took it slow. Wilford kept one arm around her small waist at all times to make sure she kept her balance.

Seeing his companions were leaving, the little corgi quickly hopped off their bed and followed the couple out the door.

It didn't take them long to hear bickering in the distance. Normally, their daughters and friends would be in the kitchen pigging out, so that's where they headed.

Their guess was correct when they stepped through the arch that led to the kitchen. As usual, Qrow was trying to feed Aves, where Zwei trotted over, while team RWBY sat at the mini bar on the swivel chairs.

"Mom!" the vampire sisters yelled in unison.

They didn't waste any time and leaped off their chairs, bolting to their mother.

Wilhelmina grinned full force, having not seen her daughters since the fight. Both of her arms wrapped around them in a group hug, something they returned wholeheartedly.

However, the siblings held back from crushing her, fully aware their mother was still recovering.

"Glad to see you're alright, mama Schnee," Yang chirped.

"Please," Wilhelmina huffed. "It'll take a lot more than that to take me down."

Everyone thought back to how close she came to being killed.

But there was one reason why she was saved.

Come to think of it, Wilhelmina never really knew how she was saved. Wilford never mentioned it.

The pain she received and her husband had kept her preoccupied until that point.

"You don't know, do you?" Qrow asked.

"Know what?"

Qrow pointed to Weiss. "She summoned. That's why you're even here right now."

Wilhelmina looked utterly baffled. "What?"

A million possibilities swarmed her mind. Was it even possible for an aristocrat to use a pureblood power?

"I barely believe them either," the heiress admitted. "But apparently it's true."

Her daughter was in the same boat as her. The summoner couldn't even believe it herself.

"It was the white armor," Wilford added, a proud hand on his daughter's shoulder. "Its sword sliced clean through her berserker rage."

Wilhelmina didn't believe it at first, but with her family claiming it to be true, she had no choice but to accept it.

Weiss and her mother's eyes met, the heiress silently pleading for praise. She had worked her whole life to summon, after all.

With her being an aristocrat, such a feat should have been impossible.

But she did it, the least she deserved was a little recognition from her mother.

Genuinely smiling, Wilhelmina wrapped Weiss in a hug. "I'm so proud."

Weiss could only give her a goofy grin.

"The story's not over yet," Qrow chimed.

The two broke apart and Wilhelmina tilted her head. "Oh? What else happened?"

"In a last-ditch effort, Cinder tried to shoot you with an arrow to kill you when you were knocked out," Ruby stated. "Buuuuuut-"

Yang couldn't help but finish for her sister, very proud of her partner. "-the kitty teleported that arrow in that bitch's heart," she satisfyingly added.

"You're both heroes that saved me," Mrs. Schnee breathed in realization. "I have the best daughters in the world."

Without warning, she pulled in Blake for a hug as well and soothed her dainty fingers through her jet-black hair.

Blake felt so warm… she hadn't felt this loved in a while. She almost forgot what it was like to live here, having been at Beacon for so long.

"Thank you too, Blake," Wilhelmina stated.

"I'd do it again if I had to," the blood-faunus said with a cheeky grin.

"Let's hope you don't have to ever again. I'm so proud of you two!" Wilhelmina cheered. "Well, all of you," she said to clarify.

They all fought hard, so each of them deserved recognition.

Ruby gave her thumbs up. "Thanks!"

Wilhelmina gave her a small smile and headed over to where Aves sat, Wilford's firm hand still around her waist.

She knelt down to get at eye-level with her. "How's my favorite granddaughter doing?"

"She's your only granddaughter," Ruby said as a matter of factly.

"Shhhh," Wilhelmina teasingly hushed. "She doesn't have to know that."

Aves simply cooed, and her mouth was agape at the new presence before her. Slowly, she reached out her tiny hands and started to fiddle with her grandmother's white hair.

Wilford stood protectively next to her, waiting for Aves to yank it. He knew her head wasn't fully healed, so he was worried Aves might accidentally make the concussion worse.

Surprisingly, she was gentle with her snowy tresses. They thought she was about to let go, but Aves ended up stuffing the locks in her drooling mouth.

The action caused Wilhelmina to yelp.

"Aves!" Qrow chided. "That's not something you eat! Drop it!"

Aves didn't listen to her father and started to chew on Wilhelmina's white hair, giddily laughing all the while.

Sensing his companion was distressed, Zwei barked once, which gained Aves' attention.

The dog was usually so calm, so Aves wondered if what she was doing was wrong and dropped her jaw from the sudden yip. This released Wilhelmina's white hair and she quickly pulled away, wiping the drool off in disgust.

Qrow sighed. "You won't listen to me, but you'll listen to the dog?"

The all too familiar giggle of delight was his answer.

Zwei wagged his stubby tail, his tongue lolled to the side. He was so eager that his whole body was almost shaking.

"Zwei, you're her new dad," Qrow teased. "Goodluck."

Everyone laughed when Zwei trotted over and sat directly next to the high chair as if he accepted the offer.

There was a comfortable silence that followed with the occasional munching of food.

Everything seemed to have settled down.

It was nice staying here, but the team knew they had to leave the castle soon since their purpose of coming here had been fulfilled.

"I've been meaning to bring this up for a while but when can we go back to Beacon?" Ruby asked after she took a bite of her apple. "We've done what we needed to do, right?"

"There's one more thing you gotta do before you leave," Qrow informed solemnly.

"Which is?" Weiss was curious.

Hadn't they done enough?

"We didn't tell you guys, but we got the services to cremate Winter," Qrow said.

"After Weiss and Blake told us Winter's wish was to be spread in the ocean, we thought you'd want to take part in that," Wilford clarified for him.

"Of course," Yang agreed, but not too eagerly. "When's this happening?"

Yang only met their elder sister a few times, but she knew she was irreplaceable and meant a lot to them. Yang was also serious about Weiss, so she wanted to help her family in any way possible. The same went for Ruby.

"Tomorrow," Wilhelmina informed, her voice barely audible. "There's also a… memorial… prepared…"

She had felt lightheaded this whole time and now a dizzy spell hit her with full force.

Gasps sounded when her knees buckled suddenly, but strong, supportive arms wrapped around her before she could hit the hard floor.

Thankfully, Wilford's hand was already around her back and kept her upright. He used his free hand and scooped it under her knees, lifting her bridal style.

"Mom?!" Weiss yelped and scampered over, grabbing her limp hand. "Is she okay?!"

Qrow immediately got up and checked her over with worry, noticing beads of sweat on her forehead. "She still needs time to recover. Don't worry, she'll definitely participate tomorrow."

Blake's cat ears flattened on her head at the sight. Normally, Wilhelmina was so powerful and cheerful, so to see her like this…

There was worry shooting throughout her entire being.

The enemy got her mom good.

"You sure that's a good idea?" Blake asked.

"It may not be," Qrow admitted. "But there's no way we can forbid her from going. This is Winter we're talking about."

"She'll be okay," Wilford worriedly gazed down at her clouded over mist-blue eyes. "Her concussion still isn't healed. I'm taking her back to the room."

"I'm fine," Wilhelmina directed that to all of them. "Put me down," it was said so weakly it was almost pathetic.

"No," Wilford simply replied, tucking her closer to his chest. "We had a deal."

Wilhelmina groaned in protest as they headed down the hall.

"If anyone wants to visit, you can!" she exclaimed in a delirious, yet chipper voice. "I get so bored!"

The team and Qrow giggled from the comment.

If she was well enough to joke around, they knew she'd be alright.

Wilford rolled his eyes as the two headed out of sight. "Sorry I bore you."

Wilhelmina faintly grinned and stared into his azure orbs, feeling guilty that they were filled with worry. She gently caressed her cold hand against his cheek.

"You know what I mean."

* * *

 **It's called 'Bravado' because both Blake and Weiss were brave during the fight and saved their mom's life. And because Cinder said that. Clever, right? Guys?**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	85. I Don't Have to Say Goodbye

**I got a username change! It used to be TotoTail. I've thought about changing it for two years (no joke) and finally did. My signoffs will still be Toto just because that's my nickname in real life. Oh, and happy Mother's Day! Remember the last Mother's Day and the chapter was titled "Cool Moms"? Whata kawinky dink.** **Enough about that. On to the chappy!**

* * *

The next day, team RWBY, the purebloods, Qrow, and Aves got ready for the airship ride to the nearest ocean. They decided it was for the best to leave Zwei back at the castle. If they took him, he'd only be another soul to look after. Plus, it wasn't like he could throw Winter's ashes in the ocean.

The castle was located in northern Vale, so they had to travel even more north to the tip of Vale. The ocean they had in mind would be cold since it was close to Atlas as well.

Since it would be cold, they adorned warmer clothes than usual with extra layers.

They picked this particular ocean because Atlas was the second longest place they stayed at before moving. Winter was fond of Atlas, and she loved Vale, so this ocean seemed like the best pick.

Everyone agreed that Wilford should be in charge of Winter's urn, where Winter's ashes were currently.

Qrow wanted to do the honors, but his hands were full with Aves. Wilhelmina wished she could, but Wilford insisted he held the urn, stating that his wife still wasn't lucid enough to handle such a task. This was their daughter they were talking about, and it would be awful if someone accidentally dropped her ashes and spilled them on the floor. He felt bad, but it was something Wilhelmina understood.

He was mostly right. Wilhelmina had mostly recovered, but she still felt the lingering effects of her concussion. She didn't want to be a burden and stuck close to her husband through their travels, her eyes usually not able to pry away from the urn.

Team RWwasere unusually quiet during their travels. Yang and Ruby understood the silence completely. They allowed their girlfriends to gather their thoughts and stayed close to them the whole time, making sure they knew they weren't alone and that they were here for them.

Blake and Weiss appreciated their reassurances and contemplated the situation almost the whole time.

It was later in the afternoon when they landed from the airship. Ahead of time, they had a hired driver pick them up from the port. So the driver met them the same time they landed and they headed out.

It took several minutes to get to the tip of the peninsula, but they finally made it.

They were greeted with a cold, but calm breeze when they opened the vehicle's doors. By this point in the day, the sun was beginning to set, so it painted the sky a light orange with its rays beaming widely across the horizon.

Qrow set Aves on the smooth sand, pleased to see she could keep her balance.

They got in a circle and each of them held hands. Wilford set the urn on the sand and all hands were interlinked as they gazed at the urn.

"Let's say a few words," Wilford suggested.

"I'll do the honors," Wilhelmina stated gazed lovingly, yet sadly at the urn.

Everyone nodded and allowed the female pureblood to speak her thoughts, letting them represent everyone there.

"Hey hun," Wilhelmina started, seemingly already in tears. "I'm so sorry you were taken from us…" she took a deep breath to compose herself to speak properly. "Although your physical presence isn't here, I think I speak for everyone when I say you're _always_ with us," she clutched her heart. "We love you with all our hearts…"

Aves whined a bit and began to get restless, causing everyone to gaze at her.

"Your daughter is safe and sound thanks to Qrow," Wilhelmina continued, earning a smile from Qrow. "She can be a handful sometimes," she dryly laughed, causing some other faint giggles to sound. "But she'll grow up to be… if it's even possible… as wonderful and as brave as you."

Wilhelmina's tears finally spilled over and she choked back a sob. "You're living on in Aves..."

That's when Qrow felt three squeezes in his hand from his daughter.

I love you.

He immediately squeezed four in return, earning a wide grin from the small white-haired child.

I love you, too.

Wilhelmina slowly set a hand against her forehead. That's when they noticed she started to raggedly breathe.

"Mom?" Blake asked full of worry. "Are you okay?"

Wilhelmina got weak knees and needed her husband's support as she leaned onto him.

"Wilhelmina?" Wilford asked, his voice laced with concern. "Can you hear me?"

There was a pregnant pause for her to gain her bearings before she spoke again.

"Yes, just a slight dizzy spell."

Her concussion still affected her, so her husband made sure to she wouldn't fall and wrapped his arms firmly around her waist. Expressions of concern surrounded her and that made her feel guilty.

"If you say so," Yang said, worried herself.

"Just give her a moment," Wilford advised calmly, slightly breathing in his wife's ear.

He knew how important his wife's speech to Winter was, so he wanted her to finish it properly. She was eternally grateful for their understanding.

They waited for Wilhelmina to feel well enough to finish the heartfelt speech. It was the least they wanted her to do for her deceased daughter.

Wilhelmina gazed at the urn, clutching Wilford's arms.

"Rest in peace, Winter. We love you."

 **~I never felt that it was wise to wish too much~**

Back when Weiss and Blake were kids, they never had any set dreams or goals.

They thought their fates had been sealed.

Weiss was raised to believe she was a pureblood with responsibilities and nothing else. She had a duty to her race and believed it was her fate to fulfill it.

The night Blake had killed her parents' murderers, her fate was sealed when Wilford walked in the humble home, offering her a chance at redemption.

Blake wondered what would have happened if she didn't follow him out the door.

But she was glad she did, otherwise she wouldn't have a loving family like this.

 **~To dream too big would only lead to being crushed~**

Even though she wasn't allowed to back then, Weiss had dreams about the future.

A happy future.

Dreams that didn't involve entertaining worthless suitors.

Dreams that allowed her to escape her fate of being a vampire.

But she quickly learned that tortuous fantasy would never become reality.

As the years went by, the impossible dream of being 'normal' and 'human' was so far out of reach.

Yet, here she was, gripping her loving girlfriend's hand and her sister's, surrounded by people that loved and cared for her.

"Wise words, Wilhelmina," Wilford stated. "Now it's time to spread her in the ocean. Each of you grab a handful of ashes."

Like he was coddling a child, Wilford took of the lid of the urn and allowed them to approach one at a time. They allowed Qrow to go first and he grabbed his first handful. The ashes were as smooth as the sand he stood on, albeit the color gray. He then took a smaller portion and carefully laid in in Aves' palm. Aves didn't know what to do with the strange substance, but she followed her father's lead and handled it with care.

Next, Weiss and Blake reached in the urn and took their own handful. It was strange to think that this dust was once their sister, but now they could finally fulfill her wish.

Ruby and Yang followed suit, grabbing their own portions. They quickly joined their respective girlfriend's sides and dawdled along the ocean line.

Lastly, Wilford and Wilhelmina kept the urn and headed in their own direction to fulfill their daughter's wish.

The calm and cold breeze picked up, but it was still soothing on their skin.

Qrow held his daughter's hand since she was still a bit wobbly from walking. He clutched the ashes gently as he stared at the vast ocean that was as smooth as glass.

"Aves," Qrow called, instantly causing his daughter's head to whip up. "Spread this in the ocean, okay?" he held out his palm to show her the ashes. "You have to handle her with care and do it like this," he made his hand in a fist and waved it around slowly, causing some trickles of the ashes to seep out of his hand and settle in the calm water.

The gray dust mixed well with the salt water and soon enough, vanished like it was never there.

Aves followed his lead and treated the ashes like glass. She still didn't know exactly what was going on, but she knew it was very important. Especially when she noticed her father carried an aura of sadness with each step.

After that, the two held hands and walked down the shoreline, still spreading the ashes as far as they could go.

 **~Then I met you. You weren't afraid of anything~**

Winter was by far the bravest person Weiss had ever met.

One specific example engraved in her mind was that incident all those years ago…

When one of their homes was burned to the ground. Smoke filled the air and made it hard to get a mere ounce of breath. Flames enshrouded her when she was a child. She was sure she should have died all those years ago. Especially when a burly man almost strangled her to death while they were in the midst of the flames.

But her savior appeared from nowhere and froze her attacker solid.

With _no_ hesitation.

Winter didn't only react on instinct, she reacted with a purpose. To save her little sister.

No matter how much of a burden Winter knew she'd carry for the rest of her life, she would do anything to protect her family.

Even kill someone.

Not only that, but Weiss remembered Winter jumped out the window that was several stories high to protect her.

She even took the brunt of the impact and ended up in the hospital for a long period of time.

Winter truly was an incredible person.

"Good thing it's peaceful outside," Yang broke the silence. "I'm glad we picked today to do this."

"Yeah," Weiss managed a tiny smile, gazing down at the ashes in her palm. "It's nice…"

Yang sensed the sadness in her tone and grabbed her free hand. "Come on, we gotta make her happy and do this."

"You're right," that seemed to cheer the heiress up.

The two carefully trickled the ashes in the salt water, making sure to spread them out. To cover more distance, Yang held her arm back like she was about to throw a softball. She threw it with all her might over the ocean.

The ashes were like a waterfall of gray.

"Beautiful..." Weiss breathed.

Yang gave her a faint grin and wrapped her arm around her girlfriend's waist, pulling her close.

"Yeah…"

Slowly but surely, the ashes settled in the calm, inviting water several feet away.

 **~You taught me how to leave the ground, to use my wings~**

Winter had been there for Blake and Weiss since they could remember.

Almost every day growing up, Winter helped Weiss try to summon. The constant encouragement was overwhelming, but in a good way.

After a while, Weiss started to doubt herself because no matter how hard she tried, she just _couldn't_ summon.

But Winter was always there to literally smack some sense into her, effectively giving her a glimmer of hope that such a feat was possible.

On the other side, Ruby and Blake were in blissful silence. Ruby understood Blake might need some space, but she looked so sad…

She couldn't just not talk to her.

"You okay, Blake?" Ruby asked concernedly. "You haven't thrown the ashes yet."

Blake had been too busy pondering the memories she shared with Winter. Her amber eyes never left the ashes she was holding, wondering that if she threw them, that would be her last connection to the eldest.

She sat close to the shoreline on the cold sand, her head down as she gazed at the ashes.

"I don't want to say goodbye…" Blake almost inaudibly murmured in a strained voice, tucking the ashes to her chest.

"You don't have to," Ruby easily replied. "It's like what your mother said. She's always with you."

Blake wiped the tears with her sleeve, weighing her words.

 _She's right and I need to fulfill her wish,_ Blake thought. _You have to do this._

"You're right," Blake admitted.

Slowly, she stood and clutched the ashes one last time as Winter's words rang in her mind.

" _Keep your head up. You will both be fine. No matter what happens, you have each other."_

Blake had more than just her sister and family now.

Knowing Winter was right, Blake tossed the ashes as far as she could. They settled on the water perfectly and she turned around to give Ruby a forced smile.

Ruby knew it was fake and she quickly hugged her girlfriend before she could cry.

 **~I never thought a hero would ever come my way, but more than that I never thought you'd be taken away~**

Ruby and Yang were strong for their girlfriends and let them cry.

While Blake was more open about it, Weiss tried to stifle her sobs and buried her face in Yang's shoulder.

They had been reduced to whimpering kids again.

Ruby and Yang let slip a few tears as well. Seeing their teammates like this hit pangs in their hearts. They also somewhat knew Winter before she died and they had to mourn as well.

Their trembling finally ceased and they took calm and collected breaths to compose themselves. After settling down, the team headed to the designated spot.

On top of a cliff near the shore.

After trudging up the hill, they were greeted with the memorial Wilhelmina spoke of.

 **~Now it's cold without you here. It's like winter lasts all year~**

The memorial had a simple snowflake plastered on the front of the stone. Ruby and Yang felt their stomachs twist in a knot at the sight. The stone looked exactly like their mothers' own memorial.

Everyone gathered around and stared at the stone, silently pondering their own thoughts.

Mostly everyone was crying to themselves, allowing the droplets to flow.

Qrow was just… depressed.

He was too busy thinking about how much Winter had changed his life. After his sister, Raven, died he pretty much turned into an alcoholic.

The only reason he stopped drinking was because Winter kept chiding him about how it would negatively affect his health.

He gave it some thought. He didn't care if his health was affected, but he did care about what Winter thought of him. He didn't want to disappoint her. Overtime, he kicked the habit and made Winter proud of him.

He made an effort to put on a strong face for his daughter, but even she knew something was wrong. Although Aves wasn't crying, she was distressed at seeing her family like this.

 **~But your star's still in the sky, so I won't say goodbye. I don't have to say goodbye~**

The sun was finally setting. It started to lower closer to the horizon, creating cascades of purple, orange and yellow.

The sight was breathtaking, even more beautiful than a double rainbow.

There was a rectangle near the bottom of the stone that read "Winter Schnee" below that, there was a quote that said "No farewell words were spoken, no time to say goodbye. Wonderful daughter, sister, and mother."

Everyone was simply silent and stared at the stone, obviously speaking with her in their minds.

"Did you finish throwing the all the ashes?" Weiss asked, wanting to make sure every last bit of Winter was at peace.

"Yeah," Wilford turned the urn upside down and nothing came out. "She's scattered."

"Good," Blake breathed and gazed back at the stone.

 **~My days of doubt were in the past with you around. You helped me feel I had a place, direction found~**

That held true for the blood-faunus. When Blake first arrived at the Schnee residence, Weiss was friendly to her, but Winter was a little standoffish at first.

It took time, but over the years the two had grown close. Winter even helped her use different tactics with her teleportation ability. She gave her advice on how it would be a good combination with her semblance and was even a practice dummy at one point.

Even though Winter didn't know about Blake's haunted past, she accepted her with open arms.

Being the eldest, Winter guided her and Weiss through the years. Obviously, their parents did as well, but they weren't as constant in their lives as Winter.

Qrow was lost when he first became Winter's bodyguard. Lost in the game of life. He didn't know what to do or how to mourn with his sister gone.

Winter was there for him and taught him how to properly mourn. How to get back on track.

Little did she know, she gave him direction without realizing it.

 **~You showed me that a greater dream can be achieved~**

When the younger siblings left for Beacon to escape their isolated life, the eldest supported them the whole way.

She gave them constant advice and called to check up on them every now and then.

Hell, she was the reason Weiss even started to be _nice_ to Yang.

After the lecture of how important it is to trust teammates, Weiss truly took that advice to heart, and was glad she did.

Not only that, but Winter was there through all the boring vampire ball parties. Now that the siblings thought about it, Winter never complained about them. They knew she thought they were a drag, but she was always the one to smack some manners into them.

To keep them on track over the years.

For a brighter future.

 **~Enough resolve will conquer all if we believe~**

Qrow had been holding Aves, more or less to comfort himself.

The toddler didn't understand why everyone was so quiet. She wasn't used to silence.

She started to whine weakly, causing Qrow to calmly rock her back and forth.

"Shhhh..." Qrow hushed. "It's okay, Ave," he turned her to face the stone. "You see that? That's your mama."

The team and purebloods watched for her reaction. The toddler began to squirm in his arms, prompting him to set her on the ground.

Once she was firmly on her tiny feet, she hobbled over to the stone cautiously.

Aves' blue mitten soothed over the smooth stone, and she found herself entranced by it. She couldn't hold back her mumbling and somehow formed something coherent.

Aves rubbed her hands over the name engraved on the stone. "Mama!"

Gasps erupted when she spoke. Qrow couldn't hold back his tears anymore as they cascaded down his cheeks.

"Yeah," he said in a strained voice. "That's your mama."

 **~The light you gave to guide me will never fade away. But moving forward never felt as hard as today~**

Blake clutched her heart at the display as her lips trembled. It was painful to watch, but heartwarming all the same.

Qrow walked over and picked up Aves, who was still mesmerized by the stone.

"She spoke her first word," Weiss stated the obvious as tears flowed down her cheeks.

"She sure did," Wilford genuinely smiled through the tears.

Yang noticed the rasp in her girlfriend's voice and pulled her close, wanting nothing more than to comfort her.

Wilhelmina glided her fingers through Aves' white tresses. "I'm proud of you."

Aves smiled at her after she received a peck on the cheek.

 **~Now it's cold without you here. It's like winter lasts all year~**

A moment of silence followed as their gazes trailed to the stone again.

 _I'm sorry you were taken so soon, hun,_ Wilhelmina thought. _I almost died trying to avenge you. If you were here you'd scold me and tell me I'm stupid, which to be honest, I would agree with you. But we managed to defeat her and somehow… That didn't make me happy. Just because we killed her doesn't mean you can come back. It's painful not having you here. You graced us with your presence… We miss you so dearly. I know you're in a better place and I'll see you again one day. I love you._

 _Hey Winter,_ Wilford greeted. _I promise I'll protect Aves with my life. I know you wouldn't want anything less. Don't worry, we know Qrow still has some problems since he's a new father, but he's getting the hang of the role. We'll be there to help him out the whole way. Even if I didn't change your diapers like your mother, I still somehow managed to raise three wonderful daughters. We love you very much and don't worry… This isn't goodbye…_

 _Hey, ice queen,_ Qrow stated endearingly in his mind. _Aves is doing well. Did you hear her first word earlier? I wish we had more time together, you know… to actually get married. I gotta admit, I was amused when we first met. You were so easy to tease it was ridiculous. Then I realized how cute you looked with your adorable scowl. It pretty much escalated from there and you know the rest,_ he clutched Aves' hand. _She may not remember today since she's so young, but you can tell, can't you?_ Qrow gazed down at his daughter, who was clearly distressed, her frazzled bobbed white hair frayed and red eyes watered. _She knows something's up. I'll tell her all of our stories we share and tuck her in every night until she begs me to stop. And in case you didn't know... I love you. So much… By this po,int I'm just stating the obvious, huh?_

Yang took this as her chance to think of something. _I know I don't know you that well, but I promise I'll make Weiss happy. I know I may not be like one of those suitors your parents had in mind, but I'll treat your little sister like a queen. I wish I could'a met you, but for now, I'll hold my own with the memory of you._

 _It's a shame we couldn't meet in person,_ Ruby thought as she gazed at the stone. _You're very important to Blake and-I know you know that. Uh… sorry, I'm not good at this kinda thing. We're going back to Beacon soon. Watch over us, okay? Especially your family… it's not like I need to tell you that, but we're counting on you._

 **~But your star's still in the sky, so I won't say goodbye~**

"Everyone ready to go?" Wilford asked the group.

With collective nods, they turned on their heels to trudge down the hill. Before that, Weiss and Blake stole glances at the sky.

There was one star in particular that shimmered brightly in the dim atmosphere.

 _I'll see you again one day, Winter,_ Weiss promised, her hand over her heart. _That's a promise. And you know I never break my promises. Until then, I know you're watching us with the same smile you gave me when I summoned. I love you, but you already know that..._

 _Thank you for everything, Winter,_ Blake thought. _You accepted me for who and what I am when no one else would. That's something I'll never forget and will always cherish. I'll come visit you memorial, okay? You're in our hearts. I know it sounds weird but…_ she clutched the clothing over her heart, a single tear running down her cheek. _I can feel your presence… It's so warm..._

No one said goodbye. That would be like their journey together had ended.

When in reality, it had just begun.

 **~I don't have to say goodbye~**

* * *

 **Yes, these are the lyrics to the song "Cold" by Jeff Williams. I never use actual lyrics directly from songs like that, but it seemed to fit here.**

 **No offense to anyone who wants to be buried, it's nothing against you. I just didn't know how else to go about this since I just based this off personal experience.**

 **Woah, I went back and edited this just after my dog died. It's been around half a year by the time this is posted! No bye byes, Boomer. Love you.**

 **Sorry that was a downer chapter, but it had to be done.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	86. Catching Up at Full Speed

It was sad to leave the castle.

The Schnee manner treated team RWBY well, but they knew they couldn't stay forever. The whole point of going there had been fulfilled. After meeting Aves, defeating Cinder, and spreading Winter's ashes, they had to go back to Beacon.

Before their travels, Ruby said, or declared, "We have one final enemy! Exams…"

It was a difficult decision, but the team left their beloved corgi behind. Qrow had his hands full with Aves, but the purebloods had grown fond of Zwei, and so did the toddler. After many reassurances, they reluctantly decided to keep him there, knowing it was best for the family.

They knew that when the school year was over, they could go back and return Zwei to Patch and Taiyang. But for now, he remained in northern Vale at the castle.

In very good hands.

It was also a good thing, too. The team had to catch up and their missed assignments _and_ study for final exams. They had a lot on their plate, so watching after a dog would pile up on their ever-building stress.

It had been a few days since they arrived at Beacon. It was strange to adjust to the weather. After being in northern Vale for so long, they failed to realize the springtime rapidly approached. It was much warmer outside, so it was a nice change.

Another thing that pleasantly surprised them was the fact that team JNPR had taken the liberty of collecting their assignments in their absence. RWBY thanked them profusely and currently, they were in the library trying to get a few of them done.

They didn't have to, but team JNPR was with them and explaining the material so they could finish their assignments.

It was stressful with a huge new workload, but team RWBY tried to work diligently in order to catch up. With this much paperwork, it would take them at least a few days to catch up in their classes, then they could actually start to study for final exams.

One thing at a time.

Instead of splitting up in pairs, the teams grabbed a long, narrow table in the corner of the library. Each team took up the opposite ends of the table. This way, team RWBY could simply share their textbooks with JNPR by sliding them across the surface.

Yang's face furrowed in frustration when she blankly stared at the pages in her textbook. She'd never admit it, but going to lectures helped to understand the material a lot. Now she regretted all the times she slept through class. Since she was absent, she had no clue what the hell she was looking at.

"Uh…"

"Need some help?" Pyrrha was quick to catch her mumble.

"Yeah," Yang still stared at the material absentmindedly.

She needed all the help she could get. She didn't feel bad for accepting the offer, either. Her whole team was in the same boat and received assistance occasionally from the other team.

Pyrrha closed her textbook and set it aside. "With what?"

"The whole unit," the blonde sighed, tugging her hair in anger in frustration. "Gah! I didn't think catching up would be this much of a pain!"

"I hope your break was worth it," Ren chimed, his tone even and not sarcastic. "Did you enjoy yourselves?"

It was hard to stifle their snorts and groans.

Break?

What break?!

They thought the whole purpose of going to the Schnee residence was to meet a special someone. That someone turned out to be the adorable Aves, but they certainly weren't expecting the fight of their lives.

In fact, most of that 'break' was spent recovering from the drawn-out battle.

They supposed it was nice though. Now no one powerful was out to hunt down the remaining purebloods.

Now no one would hurt the team because of the vampires. It was nice to know...

Their lives were no longer in danger. It was a different kind of burden off their shoulders, but now they had more pressing matters.

"It was… interesting," was all Ruby could say.

"Care to elaborate?" Jaune asked the four. "What'd you guys do?"

Team RWBY wanted to stray away from the subject. It was for the best that team JNPR was left in the dark about vampires and Cinder. Especially their ex-classmates, who they haven't seen yet.

Hopefully, it'd stay that way.

"We cuddled and watched movies!" Yang chirped.

Technically that wasn't a lie.

"Oh, that sounds like fun!" Nora beamed. "Ren! We should totally do that when exams are over!"

They thought they imagined it, but for a split second, they could've sworn the boy smiled. "Yes, we should."

That's when team RWBY noticed Pyrrha got an intense blush on her cheeks. The redhead gulped and boldly set her hand over Jaune's own.

"We should, too."

"Y-yeah," Jaune stammered, trying not to be a nervous wreck. "T-that'd be nice."

Team JNPR's interactions intrigued RWBY. They knew Nora had a thing for Ren, but now both pairs seemed to be reciprocating some kind of affection. They were about to question them, but Weiss beat them to it.

"Did you guys become a thing while we were gone?"

Yang grinned at her girlfriend's type of wording. First, it spread to Qrow, and now Weiss. She flipped her blonde mane in silent accomplishment to praise herself.

"Ren and I always had a thing," Nora cheerily said. "It took a while, but I confessed some time ago."

"I wasn't surprised," Ren added. "She's never been a subtle person."

Nora sent him a wide grin and scooted closer to the boy. "That non-subtleness got a catch like you, so I have no ragrets!"

"Really?" Blake deadpanned. "Not even a single letter?"

Nora just giggled.

Blake pointed from Jaune to Pyrrha. "When did you two happen? If I remember correctly, you," she pointed to the boy. "Were denser than a rock."

"Aw, come on!" Jaune whined. "It's better late than never, right?"

Weiss set her hand under her chin, gazing at the new couple. "I suppose."

It was nice to know he wouldn't be flirting with her anymore. Jaune and Pyrrha seemed happy together, and that made a smile to graze her lips.

Yang slung her arm around Weiss' shoulder. "Thank god you're not hitting on my girlfriend anymore."

"You guys weren't even together at the time," Jaune pointed out. "Don't give me that."

Weiss couldn't help but nuzzle closely into her girlfriend's neck to show she was truly hers. Yang's pleasant lemonade scent never got old. Even if she wasn't near the blonde, she could smell it from a distance, but up close it was intoxicating in the best way. When she nuzzled into her neck, however, the orange-red scarf was tugged down a little.

Nora stood from her seat, pointing at Yang's neck. "What's that you got there?" she asked with a wry grin.

It wasn't just Nora who saw the hidden purple mark, it was her whole team. Ruby was in a position where she couldn't see it, but now her interest was peaked.

"U-uh, I don't know what you're talking about," Yang tried to play it off and pulled up the scarf to cover it up.

"Did you get hurt?!" Ruby fretted, staring at her sister with concern.

While they tried to figure out the reason, Blake pulled out one of her books to avoid the uncomfortable situation. The last thing she wanted to remember was Yang and Weiss doing _that_ in her bed… well, shared bed. That's besides the point. She would rather not remember seeing her sister almost naked on top of her partner.

An unpleasant shiver rocked her spine. Quickly, Blake went back to reading to suppress the memory. She was uncharacteristically silent during the conversation, but she wanted to avoid it at all costs.

"Ruby!" Yang yelped. "Let go!"

Ruby ignored her sister's pleas and managed to yank the orange-red scarf over her head. Yang quickly tried to cover the mark with her hand, but it was too late.

Ruby saw the purple mark and glanced from Yang to Weiss. It didn't take long for an intense blush to form.

Nora slyly grinned. "Someone got down and dirty."

The comment caused all of her teammates to blush.

"G-give it back!" was all Yang could say.

Ruby sighed and handed the soft orange-red scarf over. "I wish I didn't see that."

Weiss sat there, feeling guilty for having the mark exposed. "Sorry…"

"Don't apologize for being horny!" Nora practically shouted.

"NORA!" her team chided in unison.

Weiss could only sit there and pinch the bridge of her nose while heat rushed to her cheeks. Maybe she should've waited to cuddle with her girlfriend in public until the mark faded. Still, she thought it was covered... apparently not.

In an attempt to forget the subject, she cracked open her textbook to dive into her assignments. She still had a lot more to do.

That proved to be fruitless when the conversation continued, causing her to think back on how close they were to…

 _Now's not the time to think about that,_ Weiss chided herself.

"Where'd this take place, huh?" Nora interrogated. "We must know."

"We?!" Pyrrha exclaimed. "There's no 'we!'"

"Nora," Weiss called in a stern voice. "Drop it."

Yang almost flinched from her tone. She was starting to think that Nora was crawling under her skin. She hadn't heard her girlfriend this irritated in a long time.

"Come on," Nora almost begged. "Just gimme a hint!"

"No way!" Weiss exclaimed. "You don't need to know. Things like that are private."

 _Why is she so interested?_ Weiss asked herself.

Blake's cat ear flicked in recognition. "And should stay private…" she mumbled, her eyes not leaving her book she found suddenly so interesting.

The heiress ignored her comment and tried to keep a leveled head.

"One hint," Nora pleaded. "Come on~"

"It was-"

"Yang!" Weiss scolded. "Don't tell her!"

Yang sent her a cheeky grin to egg her on. "Relax, princess," she set her hands on her shoulders and started to rub. "You need to wind down. All this work has made you tense."

The sudden sensation made her back loosen a bit, but Weiss knew she still had tons to do. "Don't, we still have lots to do."

"One break," Yang tried to persuade, her fingers working their magic.

"Tell me~" Nora was still prodding her about their indecency.

The flurry of emotions threatened to spill over. She had tons of assignments to do. Yang was trying to make her take a break, but dust… the backrub felt so good.

Nonetheless, it was a distraction, and the heiress simply wouldn't stand for Nora knowing about their private life.

"That's enough!" Weiss exclaimed, her azure eyes flaring a slight red. "Everyone shut up!"

Nora and Yang backed away in fear when a few glyphs spun directly in front of them.

Nora just stared while Yang cowered in fear.

It shut them up, so Weiss figured she did her job.

"Please don't pull an Aves, please don't pull an Aves, please don't pull an Aves," Yang repeatedly mumbled.

After seeing how powerful one tiny glyph was from her baby cousin, Yang didn't want to be the dummy of a fully formed one. Aves summoned her glyph out of frustration and took it out on Ruby, and the impact looked painful.

Weiss lowered her fingers, causing the glyphs to dissipate. She sighed when they had finally dropped the subject and she went back to work in silence.

"Aves?" Jaune asked, clearly perplexed. "Who's that?"

"Our cousin," Ruby pointed to herself and Yang. "And their niece!" she pointed to Weiss and Blake.

"What?" Jaune was confused. "How does that even work?"

Yang sighed.

"It's a long story."

* * *

" **Sorry…"**

" **Don't apologize for being horny!"**

" **NORA!"**

 **#dead. There are many funny lines in this story, but this has to be my fave.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	87. A Much-Needed Break

Team RWBY worked hard to pay attention in class and scribbled down notes. They took this as time to attempt to catch up with their assignments as well. Instead of working on combat, Glynda decided to use today as another lecture. It was a good idea too because exams were coming up and she figured the students would want more time to review the material instead of watching sparring matches.

If students weren't reviewing the combat lessons, Goodwitch was lenient and allowed them to review other classes. She knew her class was part of a larger curriculum and wanted her students to succeed not just in her class, but other subjects as well.

Soon enough, the bell rang. It was nice to have a study hall so team RWBY didn't have to work outside of class, but it still wasn't enough time to finish all their material. They still had mounds of paperwork to do before they could even think about studying for exams, thus adding on to their stress.

"Hey guys," the monkey faunus greeted. "We haven't seen ya in a while."

"Hey Sun, hey Neptune," Ruby replied, still absorbed in her paperwork.

"We went on break," Yang winked at the duo, hinting it wasn't much of a break at all. "Worth it though."

"Where'd you guys go?" Neptune questioned.

"Our house," Weiss informed and pointed to Blake and herself. She was the same as Ruby, her eyes never leaving the textbook in front of her.

"Was it fun?" Sun asked. "What'd you do?"

The heiress closed the textbook, realizing she still had _another_ paper to write. "I don't mean to be rude, but I have a lot to do. Sorry, I'm leaving now," with that, she strolled out the classroom with Yang in tow.

"You have a lot to catch up on too, huh?" Sun questioned.

"Yeah," Blake almost groaned. "Sorry, but I think we're going back to the room, too."

"Lame," Sun teased. "Tell us if ya need anything."

"Will do," Blake nodded.

Sun and Neptune left the classroom soon after, leaving the aristocrat to stare at a focused Ruby.

"Ruby, we should go now," Blake suggested, tapping her shoulder to get her attention.

But the leader was too absorbed in her textbook to notice her surroundings.

With a plan in mind, Blake leaned down and gently pressed her lips to Ruby's own.

That got her attention.

The aristocrat slowly pulled away with a sly grin present. "Come on," she said in a charming voice. "The room is better to study in."

Ruby blushed as red as her cape. "O-okay," she stammered and fumbled around with her things.

Blake chuckled a bit. She didn't realize she could make her girlfriend flustered so easily.

After Ruby gathered her things, she and Blake walked through the halls while holding hands.

It didn't take long to reach their room. When the door opened, they were greeted by voices who shouldn't be there.

Weiss and Yang were on a scroll talking with what sounded like the pureblood parents.

"Are you talking to mom and dad?" Blake asked in a whisper, not wanting to interrupt the conversation.

"Is that Blake?" what sounded like Wilhelmina asked.

To that, Weiss turned her scroll around and Blake waved at her parents.

"Hello sweetheart!" Wilhelmina chirped.

"Hey, Blake," Wilford greeted.

The blood-faunus' ears perked up. The two were in extremely high spirits which was a huge relief. After everything that happened, she thought they'd still be a little worn out, but they seemed okay. That's when she realized her mother seemed to be fully recovered.

Blake and Ruby took a seat next to the freezerburn pair, joining them in the middle of the floor.

"Hey," Blake greeted. "Mom, is your injury fully healed?"

Wilhelmina smiled, her hand rubbing the back of her head. "Yes, the concussion is gone thanks to Wilford and Qrow. They're the best caretakers~"

Wilford genuinely smiled. "Anything for you."

Weiss was happier than anyone to see her parents' marriage thrive. The whole team was glad to see them getting along like typical married couples, even acting cheesier than most. They assumed the purebloods talked about Wilhelmina's past mistakes and came to an understanding.

Wilhelmina knew Weiss was right. Everything would be okay.

"I'm glad you're feeling better," Blake breathed a sigh of relief.

"Don't you worry, papa and mama Schnee!" Yang beamed, going back to their earlier conversation. "Our team is getting back on track."

"Good, keep us updated," Wilford stated, a bit firmly. "We know you will anyways, but we want to know how exams go and when you'll be coming back home."

"Aye, aye!" Ruby mocked a solute. "Don't worry about it. As leader of this team, I'll make sure we get all good grades."

Wilford chuckled from that. "We're counting on you, leader."

Ruby smiled to herself and then Weiss broke the silence.

"I've been wondering, how's our home doing?"

"What do you mean?" Wilhelmina asked.

"I mean the room," the heiress clarified. "Have you tried to fix it?"

The team glanced amongst each other, wondering the exact same thing. The last time they saw the training room in the top level of the castle, it was a complete mess. The ice coated the floor, walls, and ceiling. If there was a ceiling… it had caved in from the gorilla grimm, and glass scattered the floor from grimm breaking in. The double doors had been busted off its hinges.

In short, it was a wreck.

"Don't remind me," Wilhelmina groaned.

"It's still a mess-"

"No, no," Wilhelmina cut her husband off. "It's a shitstorm. There's no sugar coating it. It'd be a miracle if we could get it even a fraction to look like before."

That caused them to giggle a bit, making Wilford continue. "But we can fix the ceiling for now. If we do fix the place, it'll take a long time for it to look normal again."

"That would take a while…" Blake mumbled.

"Tell me about it," her mom almost whined.

"Oh!" Ruby chimed. "Where's Qrow? How're him and Aves? And Zwei?"

"Qrow's hands are full right now," Wilford stated. "But he says hello."

Blake got a wry grin. "Are his hands full with Aves?"

"Yep!" Wilhelmina confirmed. "She's our little ray of sunshine~"

"Arf!"

"Zwei?!" the team leaned in closer to the camera.

Wilford took that as his cue to angle his scroll to the floor, where they could see a happy Zwei.

"Zwei!" Ruby cheered.

The little corgi yipped again, his tongue lolled out as his beady gray eyes stared at the camera.

"He's been a good boy," Wilhelmina assured. "No accidents so far."

"Just wait," Blake said. "He likes to go on concrete."

Her team giggled from the memory. Zwei did his business several times in Beacon's courtyard. Every single time it wasn't in the grass like where a normal dog would poop, but on a walkway.

Then Ozpin found it almost every single time and interrupted their classes, claiming he would find the person responsible.

Too bad it wasn't a person.

"Arf!"

"Alright, I think we're gonna go now," Wilhelmina stated. "Take care."

"Love you," the vampire sisters said in unison.

"Love you," the parents replied.

Weiss took that as her cue to hang up the scroll. With that, she stood and took a seat at her desk.

"Whatcha doin' princess?" Yang asked.

"I have an essay I need to work on," after pulling out some paper, Weiss grabbed a pencil.

"Alright, we'll be quiet for you," Ruby said.

Yang put a hand on her girlfriend's shoulder before she could start writing. "Need some help?"

"Thanks for the offer," the heiress smiled, grateful her girlfriend worried for her over something as small as this. "But no, this will be easy, just time-consuming. Focus on your assignments, okay?"

It wasn't a lie. This paper would be easy, but dust, it was a long paper. And she needed every second to completely focus and stay in the zone.

"Kay," the blonde happily chirped and pecked Weiss on the head. "Goodluck."

"You too," Weiss murmured, already writing on the blank pages.

As soon as Yang's warm hand left her shoulder, she couldn't help but pout.

Yang knew her girlfriend preferred to not be bothered when she focused on homework. It was for the best to let her work solo.

Ruby, Blake, and Yang sat at the leader's desk, working together to finish their remaining assignments. They talked quietly every now and then, offering words of advice to each person's separate papers if they had questions.

There was the occasional sip of the blood tablet water. The vampire sisters sighed at the red watery liquid. It was nowhere near as good as actual blood. After staying at their house for a while, they grew accustomed to drinking the real thick liquid every day. Now it felt like a cheap knock-off.

It was exactly that, but it would have to do.

It took a few hours and the three teammates that worked together finished their remaining paperwork. Blake and Ruby still had one final thing to do, but Yang finished completely. Yang let out a sigh of relief and set the pencil on the desk in front of her. She turned around and noticed Weiss was rubbing her temples, and then a heavy sigh rang out.

"How much do you have left to do?"

Weiss set her head on the desk and sighed again. "I'm almost done," there was a hint of strain in her voice, and that was the push Yang needed.

"You need a break!" Yang exclaimed.

"What? No," Weiss quickly shut her down. "It's almost finished."

"Come oooooon," the blonde almost begged. She could tell her girlfriend had a raging headache. "Let's get some air."

With reluctance, Weiss pushed herself up and focused on the essay she was still writing. Her attempt to ignore Yang failed when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Princess~" Yang practically sang. "You and I both know you need it."

"It's just a few more paragraphs, brute," the heiress said evenly. "Now go bother Blake and Ruby."

"Ouch," Yang put her hand over her heart to be dramatic. "That hurt, but nope! Not happening."

When Weiss didn't reply and went back to her essay, Yang knew what to do. It would make her girlfriend upset, but it was for the best in the long run.

Without warning, the blonde grabbed her chair and pulled it away from the desk rather forcefully.

"What're you-"

That's when Yang bent over and wrapped her arms around Weiss' body. The blonde hoisted Weiss over her shoulder, arms holding tightly to her back in a fireman's carry. She ignored the weak squeal her girlfriend emitted and headed to the door.

" _Yang_!" Weiss cried out, both full of anger and pleading. This position was embarrassing. "Put me down!" her arms flailed and hit Yang's back, but her blonde mane made it hard to complain without getting some hair stuck in her mouth.

"Nope," Yang ignored her girlfriend's harsh tone. "You are taking a break with me and you are going to like it."

In a futile attempt to make her let go, the heiress sent tiny jolts of cool aura into Yang's form to show her displeasure. That only made Yang smirk since her aura was a natural heater and it overwhelmed the icy feeling. It didn't do much as Weiss' torso hung limply over Yang's back.

"Yang!"

The blonde opened the door with her free hand. "We'll be back! Later, guys!"

Blake and Ruby could only watch Weiss struggle and mutter obscenities. Their amusement was peaked until the door shut.

"Your sister hasn't changed," Blake pointed out. "But that's a good thing. She shouldn't."

"That's Yang for you," Ruby grinned.

"She has been getting better at waking up though," Blake observed. "It doesn't take an hour to make her crawl out of bed anymore."

The leader laughed, having not realized that herself even though she was her sister. "You're right! How'd I miss that?"

It was Blake's turn to giggle and then a comfortable silence followed. There was one more paper they had to finish before being completely done with their assignments. But suddenly, it didn't seem important. Like the assignment had vanished, a certain awkwardness filled the air.

They were starting to get nervous when they realized they had the room all to themselves. Dead silence almost suffocated them as they gazed into each other's kind eyes. Without realizing it, both of them leaned in.

Like it was natural.

Their soft lips pressed together slowly. Together, they matched each other's speed.

Assuming it was okay, Blake's hands began to roam over her girlfriend's body and along her beloved cape. Her worries eased when Ruby followed suit, her soft hands treating Blake's slim back with tender care.

Their kissing went on for several more seconds before they hesitantly separated. That's when they realized their faces were flushed by the intense passion.

"Y-you're really good at this," Ruby murmured as she set her forehead on Blake's own.

The blood-faunus pecked the tip of Ruby's nose, which elicited an adorable squeal.

"Want to get more… comfortable?" Blake asked, a bit hesitant with a suggestive emphasis in her tone.

They were still sitting on the uncomfortable wooden chairs. Blake's rear was getting sore from being on the hard seat for so long, and she guessed her girlfriend felt the same way. If they were going to continue, she wanted Ruby to feel as comfortable as possible. Blake worried that she crossed a line when she asked the question like that, but the smile on her girlfriend's face told her there was nothing to fear.

"Yeah."

Together, they held hands as they walked over to Blake's bed on the bottom bunk.

They weren't sure what to do when they got there…

So they just sat down, their hands gliding on top of each other's knees. Their lips made contact as they resumed kissing each other with vigor.

They matched each other's ferocity, their hands now interlocked. Ruby was surprised when she felt Blake's wet muscle glide along her lips. To allow her entrance, Ruby opened her mouth slightly, _needing_ to taste her girlfriend.

Blake was more than willing to comply and slid her tongue through the opening, glad that it met Ruby's own and to realize she was just as, if not more eager to greet her tongue.

Their eyes drifted shut to appreciate the moment in its passion as their hands freely roamed around their bodies.

Ruby didn't realize it, but she managed to glide Blake down on the mattress as she straddled the girl's hips.

Blake forgot how they got in that position as she stared up at her gorgeous girlfriend, wondering how she managed to find such a perfect person. The shadow from the bottom bunk created the perfect lighting and allowed Blake to be entranced by Ruby's silver eyes in all their glory. It made Ruby look even more gorgeous if that was possible.

Ruby seemed to be thinking the same thing about her partner as she leaned down with a loving smile, wiping away a stray bang on Blake's forehead. Ruby leaned closer, their foreheads touched together, kind, yet eager eyes boring into each other.

Tilting her chin up, Blake's soft lips met Ruby's own as the leader gently set her hands on either side of her lover's shoulders. Their hearts were racing as their kissing continued like ocean waves crashing on a beach. Their scents were almost intoxicating in the best way possible.

To Ruby, Blake smelled and tasted like sweet vanilla.

To Blake, Ruby smelled like strawberries and tasted like sweet chocolate chip cookies.

After that realization, Blake failed to suppress a laugh. Of course her girlfriend would taste like her favorite treat.

The giggle came out muffled from their ensnared lips. The sudden sensation made Ruby's eyes go wide, wondering if she did something wrong.

Needing to breathe, Ruby broke apart and leaned up, only to hit her head on the bottom bunk.

There was a fragile, "Agh!" just before the grunt, a reverberating thud rang out.

"Ruby?!" Blake voiced with urgency and leaned up, her hands on her girlfriend's knees. "Are you okay?"

Ruby's eyes were squeezed shut in pain, her hands clutched the back of her head.

"Y-yeah, I'll be fine," she laughed dryly. "That ruined the moment, huh?"

Blake smiled when she knew her girlfriend would be alright. Gently setting her hands on the back of Ruby's head, she pulled her close.

"Wh-what're you..."

Her answer was constant purring that vibrated throughout Blake's very being. Not wanting to break away, Ruby hugged her closely with a faint grin.

"I haven't heard you purr this much before…"

"It's my way of showing I _really_ care about you," Blake spoke softly. "I want you to feel better, too."

The hands on the back of Ruby's head were gentle, and her eyes drifted shut to savor the pleasant purrs and sensations. They rocked her entire body and she wanted nothing more than to bask in her presence.

"It's working. Don't worry, Blake…" the pain in Ruby's skull was already dulling. "I _really_ care about you, too."

"Yeah?" Blake was happy to hear that and gently pecked the top of her head.

"Yeah," Ruby confirmed, nuzzling closer. "More than you'll ever know."

The blood-faunus looked down at Ruby, only to realize her leader's hands glided to the top of her head. Carefully, Ruby unwrapped the bow around her cat ears and set the black ribbon to the side.

"You're beautiful the way you are."

Blake accepted the compliment and she felt like Ruby underrated herself.

 _She_ was truly the beautiful one here in Blake's eyes.

"You're gorgeous yourself," Blake purred, leaning in for another kiss.

Ruby reciprocated and before they realized it, Blake ended up on top of Ruby after the two rolled over. Brushing her black tresses out of the way, Blake leaned down, her whole body over Ruby and they continued kissing, Ruby's hands firmly around her back.

A stray soft hand settled on Ruby's bare stomach, eliciting a tiny squeak from the girl.

Blake pulled back, immediately regretting doing that. "Sorry," she apologized. "Was that not okay?"

"No, no, no, it's okay!" Ruby tried to reassure. "Just surprised me is all."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

A smile grazed Blake's lips as she leaned down, their bodies pressing against each other. Ruby was pinned under Blake's weight, but she made sure to even it out on the mattress. Their tongues had met and a few moans escaped. They started to get really into it in a burst of passion, their hands freely exploring their bodies.

A pleasant shiver rocked Blake's spine when she felt a soft, gentle hand glide up her shirt. Gold orbs drifted open to meet silver in a silent answer for permission, their lips still entwined.

A hand soon traveled underneath Ruby's shirt. She was prepared this time and gladly accepted Blake's soothing touch as the hand slowly moved up to the lacy fabric-

Then Blake's cat ear flicked from a sudden, worrying noise.

With a gasp, she grabbed the edges of the blankets and pulled them over both of them frantically. She then crashed on the mattress next to Ruby, causing the bunk bed to shake.

"Blake, what's wrong?" Ruby wasn't sure why she'd react this way.

"Sh," Blake hushed in a harsh whisper. "They're coming! Pretend you're asleep!"

"O-oh crap!" Ruby frantically tugged on the blankets and faced Blake, wrapping her arms around her to make it look like they were cuddling.

Although it was a bit rushed, they still enjoyed the close contact. The two huddled closely together and soaked up a pleasant amount of body heat, their individual scents lingering in their noses.

It was nice to cuddle, but the last thing Ruby wanted was Yang knowing that the couple was fooling around in Blake's bunk. Their positions settled and soon enough, the door creaked open.

"That was pointless," the heiress stated. "You know that, right?"

"You spent some time with yours truly," Yang grinned. "Don't pretend you didn't like it."

Blake and Ruby were deathly still, their eyes shut to act like they were asleep. Their adrenaline was still pumping from the situation, but they expertly mimicked sleep.

"Where're Ruby and Blake?" Weiss asked.

Yang scanned the room and when her eyes settled on Blake's bunk, she let out a small squeal.

"Aw," Yang said in a whisper. "Look, they're sleeping."

The heiress smiled at the sight. "How nice. That doesn't sound so bad."

"Wanna cuddle?"

"In case you forgot, you literally carried me away from the assignment I still have to finish, so no. Not right now at least."

Yang instantly perked up. "So later?"

"Sure," Weiss said, now at her desk with the pencil in her grasp.

Yang pumped her fist in the air at the victory. "Yes!"

"You need to be quiet," Weiss shushed. "You'll wake them."

Yang lowered her fist and joined her girlfriend's side at the desk. "Right, my bad."

Acting like they were asleep made the ladybug duo actually feel drowsy. They were in each other's arms, something that they had grown accustomed to. But it still caused butterflies to flutter in their stomachs and their hearts to feel warm...

Exchanging one last, passionate kiss between them, they actually fell asleep, comforted by each other's presence.

* * *

 **Ow, ow! Dat ladybug though! Freezerburn was interrupted by Blake before. They simply returned the favor without realizing it XD**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	88. I'm Not Running Anymore

**I'm in Japan weebing out the next few weeks. Chapter 89 will be released June 24th!**

* * *

It was really early in the morning. The sun hadn't even peeked over the horizon to start the new day.

Yet, there team RWBY was, studying in the library for final exams that begin _tomorrow_.

They more or less crammed like typical students, but if they had the option, they'd never procrastinate this badly ever again.

They were gone for a long time and finally caught up on their missing assignments. Ruby had taken the liberty of turning in every single paper for them, and with that done, now they could actually focus on test materials.

It was hard to wake up, considering how it was the crack of dawn. The team had agreed to start the day early the night before, thinking it would give them a head start for studying exams. The last day of classes was also today, so they knew they'd be exhausted, which is why Yang and Ruby were vigorously drinking coffee.

The main reason they were up this early was because Ruby kept saying she had to keep her promise to Mr. Schnee that the whole team would pass every exam and get good grades, so they reluctantly agreed to roll out of bed.

Thankfully, they weren't alone on this. Sun and Neptune were more than willing to help them catch up. They were well-known procrastinators and needed the help too, but could also provide information team RWBY may have missed.

The couple joined team RWBY not long after they arrived. Of course, the team asked for their help and felt like JNPR had done enough, so they turned to the sea monkey couple.

Since the library wasn't crowded and there wasn't another soul in sight besides the librarian, they chose to sit in the middle where the circular tables were located.

"No, that's not right," Sun shook his head, his finger pointing over the text of Ruby's book. "You gotta learn it like this…"

Ruby never thought she'd ever receive pointers from Sun. She didn't peg him as the studious type, but it was a nice surprise. He and his boyfriend were nice enough to help out her team, so she paid attention to his explanation.

"Thanks, Sun!" Ruby chirped after she took a swig of coffee. "It does sound better when you word it like that."

The leader had been stuck on the subject of the anatomy of grimm. It was hard to understand certain complicated phrases, so Sun made it easier for her to comprehend.

"No big whoop," Sun replied evenly. "Just ask if you need anything else."

Ruby nodded and the two went back to work, with Sun's tail wrapping around Neptune's waist.

Everyone studied in relative silence. Only the occasional pages turning filled the air. The team had never seen Neptune and Sun this quiet… ever. It was kind of unsettling, but they could tell the couple treated their studies just as seriously as they did.

While Ruby and Yang sipped on their coffees, the vampire sisters drank their blood tablet water. They still sulked that it wasn't actual blood, but they would be back home soon and clung to that comforting thought.

Blood tablet water didn't have the same effects as coffee. Yang had literally rolled out of bed and needed her fix right away. She was definitely the most difficult person to wake up, but Ruby's brewed coffee snapped her awake, even if it was just a little.

Weiss took a sip of her red drink, still pouting that it wasn't real blood. After setting it on the table, Neptune reached out for the bottle and inspected it.

"What's in here anyways? Why's it red?"

From the question, Blake's cat ear flicked, but her eyes never left the textbook she was holding.

The heiress trusted he wouldn't take a sip and allowed him to examine the bottle, her hands were under her chin like she didn't mind. Earlier in the year, she would've freaked out, but she learned it was better to keep a level head.

Yang saw her chance to tease her girlfriend. "I'll tell you what it's not. It's not red wine. That's for sure."

That earned a chuckle from Weiss. Earlier in the year, Yang was so hellbent on what was in their drinks and she assumed it was alcohol. Of course, her theory was false.

Neptune just spun the bottle in his hands, clearly interested in the substance. "So then what is it?"

"Red tea," Weiss said as if the answer was obvious. "What do you think it is?"

"Not sure, that's why I asked," Neptune easily replied.

"Fair enough," Weiss replied.

Neptune still held the bottle, noticing it could definitely pass as red tea.

"Can I have it back?" Weiss held out her hand. "I need my fix just like the dolt and brute need theirs."

Ruby stopped munching her cookies from the comment and Yang sheepishly grinned after taking another sip of coffee.

Neptune handed the bottle over without protest and went back to studying like nothing happened. There was a comfortable silence that followed.

An hour passed.

They wouldn't have noticed the time if some students hadn't started to flow into the library. It had been relatively quiet until that point, but the bustling of students signaled the last day of school was about to begin. There was the chime of the school bell, signaling they had about ten minutes to get to class.

"Let's go teeeeeeeaaaaam RWBY!" Ruby pumped her fist in the air. "Last day of class, woop!"

Blake packed up her materials and shoved them in her bag. "How are you this energetic so early?"

Ruby was almost twitching spastically, not able to stay still. That's when her girlfriend noticed the coffee mug still in her hand.

"Psh, I'm fine!" Ruby quickly replied, taking a few more sips.

Yang grabbed the coffee out of her sister's hand. "You're cut off."

Ruby pouted from the missing heat contact. She was almost done with her drink, too.

"But Yaaaaaaaang!"

"Rubes," Yang called, throwing an arm around her shoulder. "Hate to break it to ya, but two creams and seven sugars is overkill."

"You let her get that much?!" Weiss yelped. "She'll have a caffeine overdose!"

"That's nothin,'" Yang waved off. "You should see her when she drank that red bull. Could'a sworn it gave her wings..."

"You're overreacting," Ruby insisted and carefully wrestled out of Yang's grasp.

"No, I'm _re_ acting," Yang replied, her tone level.

Ruby ignored the lame joke and quickly grabbed Blake's forearm.

"Seeya in class!"

"Uh, Ruby? What're you- gah!"

Without warning, Ruby used her speed semblance and darted through the halls with a shrieking Blake in tow. There was a streak of red and black, followed by hundreds of pure red rose petals in their wake. Several students had to jump out of the way to avoid being trampled by the sudden red and black flurry.

"Can't say I'm surprised she did that," Yang remarked.

Weiss only grinned at the trail of rose petals and grabbed Yang's hand. "Me neither. We should probably follow them and get to class."

They had enough time, so they walked through the halls together with their arms interlocked. Sun and Neptune had a class soon as well, but it was a different one. The couples walked together until they went their separate ways.

Unfortunately, the last class team RWBY had was with professor Port. Instead of allowing silence for his students to study, he told more stories about his bravery. Team RWBY, as usual, took their seats next to team JNPR and prepared for the onslaught of boring tales.

Ruby was still twitching in her seat, so the team was just waiting for her to crash from the pure amount of sugar she'd consumed. Which didn't take long. She fell asleep about ten minutes into the lecture.

"Rubes," Yang nudged her sister's side. "Wake up."

Drool streamed down Ruby's chin and she mumbled something and it wasn't coherent.

"Come on you dunce," what sounded like Weiss scolded. "You'll get in trouble on the _last_ day of class. There will not be a repeat of the _first_ day."

She thought back to when Yang got both of them detention, so the last thing she wanted was for her fearless leader to have something bad on her record. If Ruby could last one more day without incident, she'd have a clean record besides a few absences.

With reluctance, Ruby pushed herself up and blearily opened her silver eyes.

"Okay, okay," the leader mumbled more to herself. "Uh, this is so boring. Can we go back to the room now?"

"There goes your earlier eagerness," Weiss almost laughed and pointed at the window. "Look, it's flying away."

Ruby only pouted and groaned, knowing her teammate was right to tease her.

"You just want to sleep, huh?" Yang asked, to which Ruby nodded. "Tough it out for a few more minutes, kay?"

Ruby rubbed the sleep from her eyes and set her hand under her chin in disinterest as she gazed absentmindedly at the professor.

"Uh huh…"

Yang rubbed her sister's back in an attempt to keep her sister awake. Just a few minutes ago, Ruby could take on the world, but now it looked like she'd fall asleep any second.

"She's a zombie," Blake observed.

Weiss stole a glance at her leader's lap, which had a packet of cookies hidden in her lap. "One with an unhealthy addiction."

Blake realized what she was talking about and the two giggled quietly, careful not to disturb the lecture.

Just before class was about to end, the intercom dinged a few times to grab everyone's attention. Port instantly stopped talking. The students and teacher gazed at each other, wondering what the person on the other end wanted.

"Attention students…" Clearly, it was Ozpin, his voice booming throughout the academy. "It was a pleasure to guide you this year. It has been a great school year and I wish you luck on exams tomorrow. Seniors, it has been an honor to be your headmaster and I wish you the best of luck when you leave this academy. As for the rest of my students, use this break to prepare for another year with us..."

Yang almost scoffed. "Excuse me," she glared at the intercom. "A break is a break. We'll be lazing around for a while before training again. Remnant knows we deserve it."

From her mini-speech, Weiss playfully flicked her girlfriend's forehead.

Ozpin continued. "... Lastly, to the mystery shitter: I may not have found you this year, but mark my words, I will find you next year… unless you're a senior. Then get the fuck out of my academy. That is all."

The intercom dinged again, signaling it had turned off.

Everyone on team RWBY, even Ruby in her tired state, erupted into giggles. The same went for the class. Words of amusement and encouragement were shared among students.

Team JNPR took a second to process what the headmaster had said, and Nora seemed happier about the news than anyone.

"He never caught him!" Nora exclaimed with glee and pumped her fist in the air. "Go mystery shitter!"

Her outburst made the entire class laugh. Port chuckled a bit but then stopped himself since it wasn't an appropriate comment and wanted to be a role model. He would scold Nora, but it was the last day, so he let her behavior slide.

Not soon after, the bell rang and team RWBY headed back to their room.

Ruby immediately crawled into her bed, not wanting to be bothered by anyone or anything. Blake would join her to cuddle, but she had a few more things to study.

* * *

By the end of the night, the team decided to watch a movie together.

They got some last-minute studying done before the idea was even mentioned. It was Yang's idea, and she wanted to make sure her girlfriend would be okay with it. To ensure she would be, Yang waited until Weiss told her she was finished studying for exams.

It didn't take Ruby and Blake much convincing. After Ruby woke up from her nap, she worked vigorously to study.

They deserved to relax for once.

To make watching the movie more comfortable, the team hauled their mattresses from the bunks and pushed them together on the floor. They also gathered blankets so they could sleep there to huddle together for warmth. This made it look like one big bed.

Being together as a team always made their hearts feel warm, so no one was opposed to this. It was like being back at the castle.

The big screen was right in front of them as the couples cuddled on top of the combined mattresses and watched the movie. They didn't plan on falling asleep soon, so the blankets weren't draped over them.

"This is how you watch a movie," Yang grinned, her arms wrapped around Weiss.

"It was a very good idea," Weiss admitted and pecked Yang's nose.

The two lovingly gazed into each other's eyes-

"For the love of god, don't get horny," Blake pleaded, her hands gliding through Ruby's brunette tresses. "I don't want to see something like _that_ ever again."

She only mentioned _it_ because Ruby was dozing in her arms. The last thing she wanted was her knowing what she ran into back at the castle.

Blake felt another shudder rock her body. And not the pleasant kind.

Yang could only grin and flexed her biceps. "Jealous?"

"Of you and my sister?" Blake questioned, slightly irritated. "Hell no."

"In our defense, you could have knocked," Weiss pointed out. "You knew we were in there."

"It's too late to change anything..." Blake muttered, rubbing soothing circles on Ruby's scalp.

Ruby's breath was in deep rhythm and her adorable sleeping face was something that made Blake almost forget the conversation.

A sudden urge overwhelmed her, and Blake wanted to protect Ruby.

To be there for her no matter what.

To pepper her with kisses.

To chase away her nightmares.

But most of all, to stay by her side.

 _Is this… what love feels like?_ Blake asked herself, nuzzling closer to her.

"Guys…"

Blake was almost hesitant, but something had been stirring in her mind for a few weeks. She needed to tell her teammates and staring at Ruby's sleeping, cute face made her want to mention it.

"Yeah, kitten?" Yang asked.

"What is it, Blake?" Weiss questioned. She could tell her sister had been thinking about something for a while, but didn't know what.

"What I'm about to say is important," Blake stated. "Especially for you, Weiss."

That made the heiress lean up to give her her unyielding attention. Yang followed suit and Blake didn't want to, but she let go of Ruby and wrapped the red cape around her sleeping form. Now that Blake had their attention, she sat up, meeting each of their gazes and spoke.

"I want to change my last name."

Weiss tilted her head curiously. "Why on Remnant would you want to do that?"

Her sister's tone was more interested and intrigued rather than upset. Her being upset was something Blake feared, but so far, she seemed to take the idea well. This encouraged Blake immensely.

"Don't you like being a Schnee?" Yang questioned.

"I do," Blake admitted. "In fact, I love it. The Schnee family means so much to me. They've done more for me more than anyone will ever know."

"Then why change it?" Weiss asked.

Blake took a deep breath to explain. "By having that last name, it means I'm still running from my past. I don't want to run anymore, so I _need_ my own name."

That's how she felt. The fact that she was still Blake Schnee didn't feel right to her. She cherished the name and her adoptive family, but the fact that she still has the last name means she was still running away from her past. From her deeds, her regrets, her mistakes.

Overall, Blake was tired of it. She was _done_ running.

She was lucky Mr. Schnee was there that fateful night. In fact, she owed the family, her family, _so_ much, but she figured the first step she could take would be claiming her own last name.

Blake expected her sister to be upset, but certainly not intrigued like how her expression showed.

"What would you change it to?"

Her sister's question caught her off guard. She wasn't expecting her to be okay with the idea, even asking her if she thought of anything already.

"Are you gonna use the one you had before you were adopted?" Yang asked her.

"That's the thing…" Blake murmured. "It was so long ago. I don't remember what it was…"

The three drifted into relative silence, internally trying to come up with new names. That's when a different voice chimed in the conversation.

"Belladonna."

The three whipped their heads to Ruby, who was now awake. Slowly, the leader sat up and gently set the back of her hand on Blake's cheek.

"Huh?" the aristocrat asked, not quite sure what she meant by the random word.

"Your last name should be Belladonna," Ruby suggested, her hand still on her cheek. "It's Italian for 'beautiful woman,'" she timidly looked away, blushing. "It would suit you."

"Blake Belladonna," Weiss liked the way it rolled off her tongue. "It sounds nice."

It didn't take much thought for Blake to accept her girlfriend's suggestion. She never thought Ruby would be the one to give her a new last name, but it was romantic in a way. In fact, she wouldn't want anyone else to give her the last name.

Not even herself.

"I love it, Ruby," Blake smiled. "It's perfect."

Blake and Ruby pulled each other close, leaning in for a warm embrace. It was a gentle hug full of trust, warmth, and most importantly…

Love.

The freezerburn duo watched with similar grins and Yang couldn't help herself.

"You mean puuuurrfect?"

Not even her pun could ruin the moment.

* * *

 **I got the idea to have Ruby give Blake her last name from the anime Fairy Tail. If you've seen it, you'd know Jellal gave Erza the last name 'Scarlet' because of her red hair. It was kind of a romantic thing, so it fits here.**

 **Please tell me you laughed at this: "... Lastly, to the mystery shitter: I may not have found you this year, but mark my words, I will find you next year… unless you're a senior. Then get the fuck out of my academy. That is all."**

 **Again,** **Chapter 89 will be released June 24th. See you then.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	89. Time to Celebrate

**I'm back from Japan! Here's your reward for waiting so long ;D**

* * *

It was finally the day for exams. Team RWBY made sure to get a good night's rest for the big day. They made sure to study the material inside and out. Just because they left Beacon for a few days didn't excuse them from not knowing the material.

The exams were back-to-back with a few minutes in between to take breaks. This lasted for several hours, but thankfully it started in the early morning and ended early afternoon.

Ozpin knew his students would appreciate having almost an entire day to themselves. There were some complaints the tests started too early, but it was for the best in the long run.

The beginning of the day was rigorous. For the testing set-up, each desk was spread out from the others. The team was separated majority of the time, something that made them slightly uneasy, but sparked more determination in them. So they did their best.

After the instructor told them time was up, each student put their pencils down in unison.

Before they knew it, the last exam was over when the final bell rang.

Naturally, team RWBY met outside the classroom. Each member was slightly tired, but that was nothing compared to the feeling of _owning_ those tests.

They got lunch together as a team in high spirits. The cafeteria happened to be serving bread and soup, so the vampire sisters could actually eat human food for once. Meanwhile, Ruby grabbed a chicken sandwich and Yang got a cheeseburger. They sat at their usual narrow table, wondering where JNPR was. Then again, they all looked dead tired earlier, so they must be getting some shut-eye.

"Anyone else dominate those tests?" Yang confidently asked the group.

After Blake sipped her soup, she set the spoon down. "Me, but I think it's a trap," her cat ears leaned back ever so slightly.

"It's true," Weiss chimed. "When you feel like you did well on a test, it means you probably failed. If you think you failed, you might have passed."

Ruby couldn't hold back her snort. "What kind of logic is that?"

"It's true," Blake retorted. "Although, I have a good feeling."

"Let's just be glad that team RWBY passed their first year!" Ruby beamed and took a bite of her sandwich.

"Of course we did. There's no way we'd fail with you as the leader," Weiss praised.

"Oh, pshhh stop it," Ruby almost blushed from the praise. "This means we're one step closer to becoming real huntresses!" she practically bounced up and down in her seat.

Yang pulled her sister in for a hug. "I'm so proud of you!"

Ruby grinned and returned the embrace. "Couldn't have done it without you," she murmured in her sister's ear.

As far as Yang knew, Ruby worked harder than anyone to even _attend_ Beacon. She worked relentlessly to be moved forward two grades and caught up to Yang's age group. Then they took the exam to enter Beacon together and formed this amazing team.

"Good job, Ruby," Blake grinned and pecked her nose, which earned a cute squeal.

The sisters broke apart and Yang ruffled Ruby's hair. "My Rubes is so adorable."

"Trust me, I know," Blake knowingly agreed.

"Rubes, you're hoggin' up all the love," the blonde teased. "Save some for me~"

Without warning, Yang pulled the ladybug pair in for a tight embrace. The two were stiff at first from not expecting it, but eventually accepted and returned the hug.

Yang noticed Weiss was slightly pouting, so she waved her over. "C'mere, princess! There's plenty of room!"

Ruby and Blake held their hands out for her to take them, but the heiress only huffed in weak defiance. Ruby playfully rolled her eyes, knowing she wanted to be in the hug as well. The leader grabbed Weiss' forearm and yanked her in to join.

"Ruby-ah!"

The four were finally in the group hug and Weiss more or less accepted it, having not been in a proper team hug before.

It was uncomfortable at first, but then it was nice…

 _Really_ nice.

* * *

The ladybug couple decided to go on a date to celebrate the end of their freshman year. Their absence left Yang and Weiss in the room by themselves.

The freezerburn pair knew they had to start packing because the team is supposed to leave for break, so that's what they were doing at the moment. While Weiss folded her clothes neatly in her suitcase, she noticed her girlfriend was quite literally throwing her clothing into hers.

"Yang," Weiss called and grabbed one of the disheveled garments. "What're you doing?"

"Packing," the blonde replied as if the answer was obvious. "What else?"

Weiss could only sigh and grab a shirt from her arms. "You're doing it wrong."

Yang put her hand over her chest dramatically. "Is the princess gonna teach me how to pack?"

"You need to learn sooner or later."

"I don't see what the big deal is. We're just going home."

Weiss smiled and folded the garment neatly for her girlfriend. Lilac eyes watched pale hands work their magic. Carefully, the heiress set the clothing on top of the wadded clothes in her girlfriend's suitcase.

"No girlfriend of mine will have wrinkled clothes," Weiss declared. "Hand me the rest of your things."

Yang was about to retort, but she could tell Weiss wanted to do this for her for some reason. Not wanting to argue, she grabbed the last of her things and handed them over to her girlfriend to pack. Yang had to admit, she had a knack for this kind of thing. Her suitcase was completely organized when they were done.

Yang stretched her arms and let herself drop to the floor. The mattresses the team compiled together the night before were still like one big bed, so the impact was soft and satisfying.

"Ahh~" the blonde stretched even more, almost purring like a kitten. "This feels so nice…"

Wanting to seek Yang's warmth, it didn't take Weiss long to join her as she laid down on the big bed. Before she could snuggle up to the blonde, she was pulled in close.

"C'mere you!"

Weiss let slip a, "Gah!"

Yang nuzzled closely to her neck. Her girlfriend felt like an icicle in her arms. "How are you so cold all the time?"

"I'm okay with it," the heiress held her close. "You're always here to warm me up, after all."

Yang took that as her cue to calmly flare her semblance, sending tiny warm sensations jolting in her girlfriend's body.

"Is that all I am?" the blonde asked teasingly. "Your heater?"

"You're far more than that," Weiss reassured and leaned in close.

Yang glided a hand and placed it on Weiss' cheek, pulling her in for a long passionate kiss. They simply melted into it, having not been this absorbed into each other for a while. After what seemed like an eternity, the two separated and gazed endearingly into each other's eyes that glinted with passion.

A smirk found its way on Yang's lips, knowing what her girlfriend was almost pleading. The ladybug pair celebrated the end of the year in their own way, and Yang wanted to make it special for her and Weiss, too.

"What do you say we celebrate finishing the year in our own way?"

From the question, Weiss perked an amused brow. She had an idea as to what Yang was insinuating. "What do you have in mind?" her tone lowered seductively, a sly glint in her azure orbs.

Suddenly, Weiss felt a gentle touch on her knee, slowly sliding up her bare thigh.

She shivered with longing from her girlfriend's warm and soothing touch. Tiny jolts of ecstasy flowed through her body from what was to come. However, Yang's fingers stopped just before reaching the silky fabric underneath.

"Do you want to?"

Weiss frowned when Yang removed her hand from almost reaching her where she wanted her. This left her wanting more of the irresistible blonde.

"Yes… I want to be yours and yours alone, Yang."

That was all Yang needed to hear as she leaned over her girlfriend, her body bearing down on the girl. After another deep kiss, Yang's stray fingers slid up her girlfriend's combat skirt. Another shudder of ecstasy rocked the heiress' body as she felt them slowly trail up to the lacy fabric underneath.

Not breaking lip contact, Yang started to rub on top of the fabric and on her most sensitive area in circular motions.

The two were blushing madly, especially when Weiss had to break lip contact to let out a pleasured moan. That's when Yang leaned in and trailed light kisses from her collarbone to lower neck.

 _So this is what it feels like…_ Weiss could barely think, her mind was fuzzy and only focused on her gorgeous girlfriend. _S-she's amazing..._

Then, Yang began sucking a little harder at the base of her neck. Knowing that Weiss didn't wear a scarf around her neck like her, she was sure not to break any skin or leave a mark, but just enough to elicit another feeble moan.

"M-more…"

Yang wasn't expecting that kind of a request or sound to come from her girlfriend. It sounded so lewd, yet she loved it and _needed_ to hear more.

"I'd hate to have you beg…"

Carefully, Yang removed the bolero Weiss normally adorned over her combat outfit. She noticed her girlfriend looked anxious during the endeavor, so Yang removed her top article of clothing as well. Weiss silently appreciated the gesture. Slowly but surely, they traded taking off a single garment of clothing between both of them. Weiss was left lying on the bed bare while Yang, completely nude as well, straddled her waist.

"You're beautiful," the heiress breathed, still entranced by Yang's goddess-like body above her.

Her mouth almost hung open from the breathtaking sight. The sunlight from the windows trickled into the room and caused Yang to shine above her in an angelic appearance.

Yang stared down at her girlfriend's pale and petite body, taking in her naked form. "I was just thinkin' the same thing about you."

Judging from her caring lilac eyes, Yang meant every word. Heat rushed to their cheeks as the fuel of desire coursed through them. In silent permission, Weiss dropped her arms beside her head with an inviting smile.

 _She looks so defenseless,_ Yang observed.

Not wanting her to wait, Yang leaned down and kissed her passionately, shooting her tongue forward to meet Weiss' own eager muscle. Their tongues swirled, resuming the comfort and feeling they had originally felt at the castle.

In the midst of it all, fingers glided down over her girlfriend's moist folds that were no longer covered by white lacy fabric. Yang began to play with them, avoiding the sensitive spots. That alone tormented the girl below her. It was clear Weiss struggled to say her name.

"Y-Yang…" Weiss murmured as the cautious fingertips grazed her entrance.

The call of her name almost sent Yang into overdrive, but she calmed herself, not wanting to take things too fast. She was a little more careful than she liked. Apparently, Weiss agreed and shifted her body in an attempt to press herself against her fingers.

"Stop teasing me…" it was embarrassing to say that, but this was getting unbearable.

She _needed_ her gorgeous blonde girlfriend. Desire like never before washed over them.

The plea caused Yang to slyly grin. In response, the blonde caressed her girlfriend's cheek before kissing her collarbone and then the center of her chest. Slowly, Yang dragged her lips over her soft skin over her breast before enveloping her erect peak. Her tongue swirled around the areola while she slid a finger into her entrance, sending Weiss into a state of bliss.

Unintentionally, Weiss' back formed an arch as she sharply inhaled, clutching a handful of the bed sheets. Once she regained her bearings, she squeezed the softest part of Yang. How her breasts were so supple was beyond her. It was almost inhuman. Goddess-like.

From the touch, Yang had to stop what she was going to let out a moan. She leaned up, sending her girlfriend a wink. "I was startin' to think you didn't know what to do with them."

In response, Weiss lovingly kissed her on the lips.

After a chuckle, Yang continued on her path down to her treasure. She dragged her lips and kissed her stomach while one of her hands slid down Weiss' waist.

"White?" Yang murmured with a grin. "Can't say I'm surprised."

Her light breath tickled her girlfriend's most sensitive area. Under normal circumstances, Weiss would've flicked her forehead, but she could only meet Yang's feral gaze as she grasped her blonde mane.

"Stop your te-uhhh…"

All composure Weiss had was lost when she was kissed in between the legs. Her voice trailed off as she squirmed under Yang's care.

"You're soaking wet…" Yang breathed and then grinned before continuing.

She'd never seen her girlfriend lose her composure like that. It sent her heart soaring knowing that she had this kind of an effect on her. Masterfully, she licked and swirled her tongue around the pink pearl like an eager puppy.

Her primal lilac eyes took in her girlfriend's form as she fell apart from her tongue. Weiss let out another pleasured moan, causing Yang to pay attention to that certain spot. The sound of her pleasure was a sweet melody to her ears as the blonde flushed crimson. She'd never heard her girlfriend make sounds like that. It was beautiful and intoxicating, compelling her to press her initiative.

To spoil her, Yang wrapped her arms around both of the heiress' pale legs, pulling her closer to the edge of the mattress. She wanted to get at a better angle now that she knew which spots sent her girlfriend into a state of euphoria.

Weiss was experiencing total ecstasy from Yang's tongue, so she didn't even notice that she was moved. And she didn't expect her girlfriend to slide a finger inside her along with the licking. In response, she sharply inhaled as one of her hands grasped Yang's hair while the other hand gripped the sheets.

Yang continued to thrust her finger in and out of her for eternity while stimulating her sensitive clitoris with her tongue. The occasional moan slipped out from her girlfriend. Almost like she was trying not to make the tiny sounds. To Yang, that was a challenge accepted.

Soon enough, Weiss' mind was becoming numb. Something was building inside her core. She was at Yang's complete mercy as she held onto her blonde hair. When she felt an unexpected second finger slide into her and increase the pressure, it sent her to another world and she shamelessly let out another moan.

"I'm gonna… you're…" she barely murmured in between sharp, heaving breaths. "I-I'm gonna…"

The fact that her girlfriend couldn't even form a proper sentence boosted Yang's ego. Knowing her girlfriend was close, the blonde kept the pace since that seemed to be doing the trick.

Weiss couldn't finish her sentence before every muscle in her body began to contract. Her body quivered as her mouth fell open, but no sounds of ecstasy escaped.

"Nngh…" Weiss threw her head back and squeezed her eyes shut. Her grip on Yang's hair tightened before loosening a bit.

With a satisfied grin, Yang knew her girlfriend reached her climax. It was intoxicating to know that she could make her girlfriend feel this way, so she kept going. She didn't stop stimulating her until she went limp on the mattress. Only then did she remove her fingers and tongue. Yang's reward was Weiss' natural liquid as she licked her fingers clean.

"Are you okay?" Yang asked, licking her lips.

Weiss was still panting and her face was as red as a tomato. "Yang... you're amazing."

Happily, the blonde scooted next to her on the mattress and the two shared a passionate kiss before separating.

"Why do you taste differently?" Weiss questioned. Normally, Yang tasted like lemonade, but it was a little more bitter than what she was used to.

"Oh…" Yang wondered if she should tell her girlfriend or not, but figured there was no use lying. "That's partly from you."

"Oh…" Weiss trailed off. She should've figured. She didn't know if she found that gross or romantic. Her body felt exhausted from climaxing and she felt guilty for not returning the favor. "Would you like to go for round two?"

Yang's feral violet eyes shifted back to the kind gaze Weiss grew to love. "It's okay. I can tell you're tired. Having an orgasm can wear you out. It doesn't help that we had to get up early today, either. Aaaaand not to mention, you packed my stuff. Think of that as a 'thank you,'" she sent a wink.

"I'm returning the favor over break," Weiss declared. Yang almost retorted, but she cut her off. "There's nothing you can say that'll make me think otherwise. I always repay favors."

"How thoughtful of you," Yang replied and pulled her close.

The two shared a peck, something that relaxed them after the intense passion. They snuggled close, not wanting to break apart.

Slumber quickly grasped their bodies.

* * *

Thankfully, Ruby and Blake took a few hours to get back from their date. This allowed the freezerburn pair to get in a decent nap.

Once they woke up, they quickly got dressed and moved the mattresses off the floor. They were leaving Beacon soon, so they wanted the room to look exactly like it did when they first arrived a year ago.

They ladybug duo arrived back in high spirits. Both of them weren't able to wipe the grins off their faces. Must've been a good date. As soon as they stepped foot in the room, they packed their things, which didn't take long.

When they were done, it was sad to see the room so… empty. Like all the memories in that room vanished. But they'd never forget anything from this memorable first year. Especially everything that'd happened in their room.

"Everyone ready to go?" Ruby asked her team.

The team glanced around the barren room and checked their suitcases one last time before gazing at their leader.

"I think we're ready," Yang replied.

Although they were leaving, they were excited. The team was going back to the Schnee residence. The vampire sisters insisted that Yang and Ruby stay at their home for the time being. Taiyang was still on a mission, so they didn't want the sisters to be all alone when they returned home.

It was always better to be greeted back home with hugs and warm smiles, something that was waiting for them back at the castle. So Yang and Ruby agreed to come along with and stay at the castle for now. At least until their father arrived back in Patch.

With nods of confirmation, the team gripped the handles on their suitcases and headed out. Before leaving, they spared one last glance in their beloved room.

Then the door closed.

* * *

 **Did you really think there wouldn't be freezerburn lemon? Hope it was decent! In chapter 34 called Promise, freezerburn was packing clothes, too! Back then, Weiss showed Yang her first display of affection. Now, there was a tad more- if you know what I mean.**

 **#noragrets #notevenasingleletter**

 **One more chapter to go ladies and gents. The finale.**

 **Stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


	90. We Are With No Doubt Human Beings

**HERE IT IS MY DANDELIONS! THE FINALE!**

* * *

After traveling all day, the members of team RWBY finally made it to their destination.

The Schnee castle.

It was nice to finally arrive home. To Ruby and Yang, it was strange to not go back to Patch, but the vampire sisters were right. Being greeted with warm smiles was always a plus. That was something that wasn't waiting for them in Patch since Taiyang was still on one of his missions. More importantly, the little corgi tagged along with the Schnee's for the time being.

Not only that, but Qrow and Aves were waiting for their arrival in northern Vale as well.

At last, the limo the team had been in for a few hours rolled onto the massive driveway. Slowly, the vehicle arrived at the snow white double doors at the top of the mountain and halted.

"We're here, Miss Schnee's," the limo driver announced.

Cat ears leaned back a little on Blake's head. "About that, Vert…"

"Yes, Miss Schnee?" the limo driver questioned.

"Please refer to me as Miss Belladonna from now on," the aristocrat smiled as she glanced at Ruby lovingly.

From that, Ruby grinned ear-to-ear.

"As you wish, Miss Belladonna," Vert replied.

Blake gave him a simple nod, and as they exited the vehicle, she heard her sister mutter.

"It really is a good last name…"

Despite the cold, the blood-faunus' heartfelt warm from the comment.

The castle looked the same as before. Since it was nighttime, the magnificent building shimmered in the moonlight. What made it look even more gorgeous were the white stones that twinkled, seemingly sending out its own waves of calm aura.

"It's good to be back," Yang partially smiled.

A cold hand grasped her own and Weiss sent her a smile. "It really is."

After grabbing their luggage, the team headed over to the massive white double doors. To their surprise, both of the snowy timber doors were locked.

It was late at night, so the vampire sisters wanted to avoid waking anyone that might be asleep, especially the young Aves.

The doors didn't budge, so they had no choice. After a heavy sigh, Blake pressed the doorbell.

The four waited patiently for someone to answer, meanwhile, Ruby was constantly shivering from the cold breeze. Even her cape didn't keep her warm.

Northern Vale was always a little chilly, this was especially true at night. Even though it was springtime, the air was still cold due to the climate. It wasn't bone-chilling like last time, but it was still somewhat unpleasant.

Watching Ruby shiver unsettled Blake, so she wrapped her in a firm hug from behind. Ruby stiffened at first, having not expecting the contact, but then she melted into the embrace with a cheery smile.

It had been a long day of traveling, so the sooner they could get inside to rest, the better.

Growing impatient, Weiss knocked on the door several times in rapid succession with a frown.

"This doesn't make sense," the heiress thought out loud. "They knew we were coming tonight-"

The door creaked open, which caused her to fall silent. Sudden beams of light from inside trickled through the darkness. Without warning, the door flew open and revealed Qrow, Wilhelmina, Zwei, Aves, and they all couldn't stop grinning.

The toddler had clearly grown, now able to stand properly on her own. She adorned a sparkling white bow in her hair that was similar to Blake's old matching black one. Aves' coat was a gentle ombre lilac, just like her cousin, Yang's, eyes. The sash around her waist was a glittery white, an accessory that matched her bow.

After they noticed the newest addition to their family had grown, they finally realized there was a banner that hung on the ceiling.

It read:

'Congrats on finishing your first year at Beacon!'

Of course, the word 'first' implied the pureblood parents intended for their daughters to stay enrolled at the academy.

Confetti drifted down from the ceiling and coated the floor.

"A celebration?" Yang asked, still staring at the unexpected banner.

The whole team was dumbstruck from the decorations and warm greetings. Still, it was nice to see everyone again and they weren't about to complain. It was a nice surprise.

With a yip, Zwei bolted directly to Yang and jumped in her loving arms. Yang was so happy to see him and peppered him with kisses while she received several licks to the face.

"Who's a good boy?!"

Another eager bark.

After a grin, the blonde handed Zwei over to Ruby, who was anxiously waiting for her turn to give him some affection.

The moment he was in her loving arms, he licked her face as well.

"Ah, Zwei, it's so nice to see you~"

"Hurry inside," what sounded like Wilford exclaimed from behind the door. "You'll let the cold in. Aves is still particularly weak against it."

"Right," Blake replied.

When the four walked in and the door shut, Aves realized her name was called and her innocent red eyes went wide. The toddler let go of her father's caring hand and scanned the new arrivals, finding them familiar. That's when it registered in her developing brain that her family members were back. The familiar shades of red, white, black, and yellow stood in the doorway with tired and happy features.

Without warning, the toddler darted in their direction with her arms outstretched.

"Auntie Weiss! Auntie Blake!"

She slammed into the vampire sisters full force, although it felt like nothing since Aves was so small. The toddler tried to wrap her tiny arms around their knees, but she couldn't reach all the way around due to her tiny stature. After the vampire sisters shared laughter, they leaned down and hugged their niece.

Surprised that she could speak, Weiss decided to test the waters after pulling apart. Once she got at eye level with her, she asked the question in a caring voice.

"How are you, Aves?"

Blue eyes met warm red. It seemed like Aves was trying to process the question when her face contorted, but in the end, she managed a thumbs up and a bright smile.

"I guess she's not wrong," Yang chirped.

Her voice made Aves shift her full attention on the other pair of sisters. She knew exactly who they were as well.

"Cousin Yang! Cousin Ruby!"

Directly after she hugged her aunts, Aves dashed to her cousins and wrapped her arms around their knees. Yang elected to sit on the marble floor to give her proper attention. Now on her cousin's level, the blonde wrapped her in a secure hug.

"My favorite cousin in the world!"

"Your only cousin," Blake muttered.

"Shh," Yang hushed as she ruffled the toddler's short white hair. "She doesn't have to know that."

While those two embraced, Ruby took the liberty of adjusting the toddler's white bow.

"You're as cute as ever."

From her voice, Aves turned pulled apart from Yang to give Ruby a hug. This caused Yang to giggle.

"She just has so many people to give some lovin'!"

While those three had their moment, Blake focused her attention on Qrow.

"I didn't know Aves could speak. Does she know what she's saying?"

"Most of the time she just says words," Qrow mentioned. "But she knows who her family is."

Right after he said that Aves blurted in a high-pitched voice. "Banana!"

"I was teaching her fruits earlier," Qrow said with a grin.

"Ah, my heart!" Yang dramatically placed a hand over her chest. "That's right, Aves! I'm the color of a banana!"

The pure innocence emitting from her baby cousin caused Ruby to squeal in delight. Immediately, she swooped Aves off her feet and held her in her arms, which elicited plenty of laughter in the room.

While they were doing their own thing, the vampire sisters hugged their parents and Qrow.

"A celebration, huh?" Weiss asked as she glanced up at the banner.

Glitter was splattered all over the words and it was clearly decorated, but definitely not by a professional artist. Weiss was willing to bet Aves mainly helped with it. From the thought, a smile curved her lips.

"It was a long year for you," Wilhelmina shook her head. "For all of you. We thought you at least deserve some sort of celebration."

"So…" Blake drawled. "This means we can stay at Beacon?"

Wilford laughed from the question. "Of course. We've never seen you this happy and we plan to keep it that way."

Unable to hold back, Blake pulled her father in for a tight embrace.

"Thank you," she murmured sweetly. "For everything."

She truly meant it. If Mr. Schnee hadn't taken her in all those years ago, she wouldn't be this happy right now.

"You're welcome, sweetheart," Wilford replied.

The two broke apart with smiles, and that's when Blake let out a tired yawn.

"You must be so tired after traveling today," Wilhelmina realized. "We can celebrate tomorrow. For now, you should rest."

"We look forward to it," the faunus replied and pulled her mother in for a hug.

Wilhelmina held her closely, cherishing the warmth. Over her mother's shoulder, Blake watched her sister hug their father.

It was nice to see that everyone had completely recovered from the earlier fight. Wilhelmina's bandage was no longer wrapped around her head, and her hair was as white as ever like it was never dyed crimson. Wilford and Qrow were as replenished, even when they had their hands full with the rambunctious Aves.

Finally, the mother and daughter separated, and that's when Blake faced her team.

"Let's go to bed," she said after another yawn.

Ruby and Yang stopped playing with Zwei from the comment and gave her their unyielding attention.

"Now that you mention it, I'm exhausted," Yang admitted. "Kitten's got the right idea."

"She's right," Ruby stretched her arms.

Only after did they pat Zwei lovingly on the head, kiss Aves, give Qrow and the purebloods hugs, did they allow themselves to follow their girlfriends.

"Seeya tomorrow," Yang called.

Wilhelmina, Wilford, Qrow, and Aves heard the goodbye and smiled.

Once Weiss and Blake grabbed their luggage, they dragged themselves upstairs, far too fatigued to talk. After Yang and Ruby grabbed their own luggage, they followed suit. Thankfully, now if they got lost they'd have some idea of where they were going, having been here before.

When they finally made it up the spiral-shaped white stairs, they were greeted with the soft white carpet. The vampire sisters led the way, lagging from the stairs. The team was tired enough, so more exercise wore them out.

Finally, the team made it to the familiar massive white bedroom that was coated in snowflakes. It hadn't changed a bit, and it felt like home. Especially since last time they all slept in the bed together.

Hoping not to get chided by her girlfriend, Yang sauntered over to the large bed and collapsed on top of the mattress. She didn't even have the energy to change into her pajamas, or to do anything else, really.

Weiss didn't seem to mind at all and followed with half-lidded eyes. After tossing her luggage carelessly on the floor, she dropped on the bed next to her girlfriend. Immediately, the two pulled each other close, their deep breathing quickly coaxed them to slumber.

With a grin, Blake placed a hand on Ruby's back as they watched the freezerburn pair. "You go on. I'll turn off the lights."

"Thanks, Blake," after a yawn, Ruby went over to the bed.

There was no way she was going to sleep without blankets, so she took great care in scooting the pair under the covers since they'd laid down on top of everything. The two didn't even flinch or lost their grips on each other. They were already fast asleep. Ruby broadly grinned from the sight and finally joined them under the cold sheets.

Her and Weiss' back touched while Ruby waited for Blake to join her. Once the lights were off, Ruby could easily see amber orbs flicker in the darkness. It wasn't intimidating, in fact, Ruby found the trait extremely adorable.

She really was like a cute cat.

After Blake laid down next to her girlfriend, she wrapped Ruby in her arms and pulled her into her chest. The leader couldn't stop a grin from forming as she curled into the tired blood-faunus, taking in her soothing scent. Gently, Blake tucked Ruby's head just beneath her chin and let out a content purr.

"Goodnight, Ruby."

Ruby's eyelids grew heavy, and she savored the calm vibrations emitting from her partner. Unable to hold back, she lightly pressed her lips on her girlfriend's soft neck.

"Nighty night, Blake…"

A few minutes passed, and Blake almost drifted off, but there was a small creak. Little did anyone know, Blake accidentally left the door open. So when there was a foreign sound, the aristocrat's ear flickered and prevented her from falling asleep.

Reluctantly, she sat up to look. There was nothing in the doorway and she couldn't see anyone there, which left her confused.

Maybe her parents wanted to check on them?

Either way, now she was unable to sleep and almost convinced herself to climb out of bed to investigate.

The unmistakable sound of panting filled the air.

The noise almost scared her out of her wits, but she knew what the source was. Reluctantly, she removed herself from Ruby's embrace, glad to see that her girlfriend didn't wake up from the endeavor. Now she was able to glance down and sure enough, through the darkness, there was the friendly corgi.

After a playful roll of her eyes, she whispered. "What?"

Zwei's tongue lolled out and he almost let out a soft bark, but Blake placed a finger over his snout to shush him. The little corgi whimpered and pawed on the white bed legs, which made a loud noise.

"Stop," Blake chided softly. "I get it."

Zwei tilted his head and raised his two stubby front legs in the air.

Gently, the aristocrat picked him up off the floor and set him on _her_ bed.

Now he panted excitedly since he got what he wanted.

"Just be quiet," Blake murmured.

After a reassuring nod, the little corgi scampered to the end of the bed near their feet. It didn't take him long to find a cozy spot and once he did, he plopped down, curling in on himself. Judging by their positions, Blake guessed the dog snuggled into her sister's or Yang's feet.

Thankfully, there was an extra pale blue blanket on the edge of the bed, so Blake didn't have to leave the bed to grab it. She simply tossed it over his tiny body. He had short fur, so she thought he might get cold.

When she was sure he was comfortable, Blake laid back down and wrapped her girlfriend in a loving embrace. Blake held her close. No matter how many times she and Ruby would cuddle, she would always get butterflies in her stomach.

Watching Ruby's sleeping face caused her heart to flutter. Not able to help herself, Blake gently pressed her lips to her girlfriend's own. After that, she snuggled closer into Ruby with a faint smile.

It didn't take her long to join her in the realm of slumber.

* * *

The team couldn't have woken up in a better mood or be more refreshed. This was the first day of their official break.

Like it was already their routine, team RWBY sat at the table in the kitchen. Naturally, Blake and Weiss were sipping on some blood in the bags, while Yang and Ruby chowed down on a delectable pizza.

Luckily, Mr. Schnee ordered the food ahead of time. He'd heard of how delicious humans think pizza is, so he didn't hesitate to buy some for his guests. Especially since his daughters told him that was their teammate's favorite treat.

The purebloods sat at the ends of the table. The team exchanged casual conversation, how the school year went, and how they look forward to next year.

Yang gazed at the slice in her hand fondly. "Remember the first time we had pizza as a team?"

"Don't go there," Weiss almost groaned.

"Never again," Blake said sternly.

"We wouldn't have gotten it if the princess hadn't gone on about how much she loooooooved it," the blonde teased.

Wilhelmina gave her a skeptical look. "Sweetheart, is this true?"

"Why's everyone giving me such a hard time?" Weiss asked. "Back then, it was important to blend in."

Ruby just nodded. "You're right, but you could've done it a different way. You know, rather than almost killing yourself."

Yang suppressed a laugh. "I know you're just _dying_ to try it again."

Some groans.

Since Weiss was sitting next to her girlfriend, she playfully flicked her forehead. "I won't give you the benefit of a laugh for that one."

"Not good enough, huh?" the blonde asked.

Blake stared at her partner. "None of your puns are good enough."

Yang dramatically placed a hand over her chest. "Ouch, you hurt me so, kitten. Are you saying you know your way around a pun better than me?"

"Even if I did, I wouldn't be proud of it," Blake commented.

"She does," Ruby said in a harsh whisper.

"Shhhh," Blake lightly smacked her girlfriend's shoulder. "Don't let her know."

Yang pouted. "Why not? Everyone knows I'm the funniest on the team!"

"Your ego would plummet," Blake smirked.

"Is that a challenge to a pun-off?" Yang rose her voice.

"No!" Weiss interjected. "I'm stopping the conversation right here."

That's when there were several high-pitched squeals that echoed in the room. Across from the team sat the tiny Aves in her high-chair. Just below her was Zwei, whose gaze never left the child. Her father, Qrow, dangled a small slice of strawberry directly in front of her face.

"Ave," Qrow said in a bargaining tone. "You know you want it."

Aves' pure red eyes examined the fruit. "Raspberry!"

That small shout caused some giggles to ring out. Qrow only sighed.

Yang chimed in. "To her credit, they're both red. It'd be easy to mix 'em up."

"It's close enough," Qrow agreed. "Ave, it's a strawberry. Your favorite!"

Aves shook her head hard enough to cause her white hair to splay out. "No!"

"What?!" Qrow lowered his hand. "But it's the only food you like!"

Another high-pitched. "No!"

"You can't eat nothing," the frustrated hunter said.

"Uncle Qrow," Ruby called. "I have an idea."

The leader hastily stood and grabbed her slice of pizza. Carefully, she cut a small bite-sized piece. Despite it being small, there was plenty of red sauce and cheese on top of it. Slowly, Ruby made her way over to her tiny cousin, who stared at her with calculating eyes.

Ruby lifted the piece and said. "Pizza!"

Aves threw her small arms in the air and flailed her hands in excitement as she watched the steam rise. "Pizza!" she repeated.

"That's right!" Ruby grinned. "Can you try it for me?"

As a response, Aves opened her mouth.

For fun, Ruby acted like the pizza was a plane. Her hand waved from left to right several times before landing the food in its final destination, her cousin's mouth.

"Raaaaaaaaaaaar-psshhhhhhh."

Aves took a moment to ponder if she liked the newly found food in her mouth. Everyone leaned in to see the verdict. Her face scrunched up and she made various expressions, but she ultimately settled on a smile after she swallowed.

"Yum!"

Yang stood, her chair skid across the floor, which grabbed everyone's attention. She pointed at her girlfriend. "I told you everyone loves pizza! Even the pickiest eater ever loves it!"

Weiss just smiled at her excited girlfriend. "I have no choice but to believe you now, brute."

Yang proceeded to coo at her niece and kissed the top of her head. Qrow looked relieved that his daughter at least liked something to eat, even though it wasn't healthy. Ruby and Blake were bantering with the Schnee parents.

As Weiss glanced around and took in the atmosphere, there was a sudden flash of white next to her niece and Qrow.

She didn't know why, but that flash didn't frighten her in the slightest. In fact, it felt familiar. Only a certain amount of space was emblazoned in pure white. The light created an outline of the figure.

It was the glowing white form of...

Winter.

And she was smiling.

It was a smile of pure adoration and love.

The form of Winter lovingly gazed down at her daughter and lover. Then she met Blake's gaze, who was unaware of her presence. The form didn't seem deterred by this and she looked away. Kind, caring blue eyes then met other azure, and she smiled even wider.

Weiss smiled back tenfold. She could feel tears welling up from her presence.

This was real.

Just like back when she summoned for the first time.

Winter was there. And she's here now.

This… it finally felt like home.

There was warmth in their hearts.

There was a sense of fulfillment.

The caring atmosphere…

Ruby and Blake giggling with each other.

The Schnee parents' lively conversation.

Yang and Qrow doting on the lovable Aves.

… They were finally something that they yearned to be since birth.

Human.

* * *

 **This line brings this whole story in full circle! There's no better lyrics in the songs to end it with! Lyrics: "Cuz that 'we are with no doubt human beings.'"**

 **This was the finale of Let Me Hear! Sad it's finished? Read my newest fic called White Light. I promise it won't disappoint. Personally, I think I did an even better job on it than LMH :D**

 **Thank you for sticking with this the whole way! I wish I could give each and every one of you a hug, so a digital high-five will have to do. Really though, thanks for reading. It was a hell of a ride! Again, thank you for your support. Couldn't have done it without ya. See you in my other stories.**

 **Remember to stay dandy,**

 **~Toto**


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